


Baby Steps

by Demetria_0620



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alpha Barry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Leonard Snart, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I don't even know why I write this, M/M, Mpreg, Polyamory, Rape/Non-con Elements, The Author Regrets Everything, author doesn't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-11-13 08:08:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11180601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demetria_0620/pseuds/Demetria_0620
Summary: Barry was too deep in his anger and frustration, Len was too disoriented after being trapped inside the Oculus that neither of them notice that the timeline they were in was slightly different than the one they were used to. Anger, heat cycle and emotional speedster doesn't mix well while freshly-spat-out-of-Oculus thief should not even be allowed to execute a heist. It was a bad idea all around. Lisa should have forced Lenny to marathon watch Star Wars with Cisco instead.Because a pregnant supervillain brother and guilt-ridden superhero brother-in-law were not fun at all.





	1. "I fucked up." - Barry Allen

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo....This lil plot bunny refused to leave my head. Pretty cliche, but I wanna try it nevertheless. I'm really intrigued with the Alpha/Beta/Omega universe. It shouldn't be too angsty as I aimed it to be fluffy and humourous.
> 
> Took place after the end of the season 2. All those Flashpoint bullshit doesn't happen because Jay Garrick managed to stop Barry before he fucked the timeline. On the other hand, the Oculus thing has happened a long time before, so enough time for Len to be trapped in the time stream before being spat out back to the real world.Both of them don't know that the dynamics of their world have changed and the Alpha/Omega/Beta thing is real now. The rest of the world is used to the idea since the beginning of history but for the both of them, it was a completely new thing.
> 
> A fair warning, though. There will be rape and possibly violent sex, so click the exit button now if you can't stomach such ideas.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry lets his anger take over his sanity.

Barry stared at the closing wormhole where Jay Garrick had disappeared.

The wormhole that was supposedly lead him back to the time where he would save his mother.

And now it had closed, and even if he knew that he could re-do the wormhole again, he now knew that Garrick had been (and will be) keeping an eye on him.

The other Flash would surely interfere again.

He understood the broken cup metaphor the other man had explained to him, and as much as he hated to admit it, he now knew to not mess with time. That it wasn’t worth it. The time and space would want a balance.

If he wanted his mother alive, the scale has to be balanced and he would lose something equally valuable.

He got it.

But that didn’t mean that he was okay with it.

That he wasn’t the least bit angry.

Oh, he was really angry. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to run back in time and torture Zoom to death.

He _wanted_ to hurt.

There was something primal stirred in his chest, responding to his anger. He could feel that thing roared and paced in impatience—it was something strange and familiar all the same. He exhaled a deep breath and was surprised to hear that it actually came out as a low growl.

He didn’t have time to ponder on that when Cisco skittered outside, the door slammed behind the smaller man as he yelled Barry's name loudly while pointing frantically at his phone.

“Barry! Barry! Barry—” the little scientist halted in his track, stared at Barry with a look of fear and backed away. “Oh god, dude, your Alpha mode is scary—”

_What the heck is Alpha mode?_

Barry shivered at the pleasing scent of fear and awe that suddenly assaulted his sense.

How the hell he could detect that was a mystery for now.

“What is it, Cisco?” Barry hissed through his teeth instead, hoping so hard for another meta attack because he would love to kick some literal ass.

“Um..we have a ping. Robbery at Fifth and Hoyt,” Cisco gulped, seemingly unsure now. “You know what, I think you deserve a break…It’s not even a meta—”

Barry was gone before he could even finish.

“Oh….crap…,” the scientist breathed, hitting the speed dial on his phone in record speed. “Lisssaaaaaa!!!” He whined the second the call was answered.

There was a beat of silence as Cisco cringed at the phone. It took a second for the scientist to square his shoulder and blurted out frantically.

“GET YOUR BROTHER OUT OF THERE, NOW!”

==============================

Lisa was having a blast.

Her brother had finally returned from literal death (and after a very thorough check-up to make sure that he wasn’t an impostor), Lisa decided that they should do a little bonding time. Just a small easy job that hopefully would get Lenny on his track back.

Lenny was a bit _different_ after his return.

Not that Lisa would question it though. She may not understand the whole gist of it but she knew that Mick wasn’t lying when the pyro met her the other day. Mick wasn’t lying when he broke the news of Lenny’s death three months prior. The pain and anguish in the pyro’s dimming eyes told no lies.

Lenny had been _dead_.

And when the blue glow that suddenly erupted out of nowhere spat her brother out with barely a thread on his battered body right in the middle of her safehouse, Lisa could only drop on her knees and praise the universe.

Lenny didn’t talk much for the first few weeks, seemingly like he was in a shock and daze but he was making progress now. They started to banter again, Lenny giving the adorable narrow disapproving-fatherly eyes every time she talked about her dearest boy—he didn’t know who the omega was and Lisa was planning to keep it that way—and Lisa was happy that Lenny was very supportive when Lisa told him that she was continuing her studies, furthering her degree to a higher level in mechanical engineering.

Life was good.

And a small heist for sibling bonding time ought to be the cherry on top of the sundae.

The prize wasn’t even _that_ valuable. Just an old jewelry that once belonged to Lisa’s mother.

Which was wrongfully sold by the dead evil Lewis Snart for that bastard’s supply of beer and whores.

Lisa was planning to reason with the Flash if the speedster appeared, even wanting to go far to offer leaving a sum of money in exchange for the jewelry.

She really wanted the last bit of her mother’s memories.

Lenny was willing for the job, of course. Helping her plan and case the target, exchanging old memories of the little happy times they had with their respective mothers and going with the heist even without his familiar cold gun. Lisa had given him a replacement, something that she requested for Cisco to make back during the despair-filled days she thought that her brother was dead (so that she had something to remember Lenny by). But, it wasn’t the same of course. The design was not familiar, and Cisco has made it less lethal than Lenny’s usual cold gun.

Lenny’s old gun was mysteriously broken when Mick given it to her and Lenny haven’t had the time to fix it yet.

That aside, the heist was going so well and they almost made it out—Lenny was chuckling at her bouncy steps, and the sound filled Lisa with warmth—until her phone vibrated in her pockets.

None of them usually bring their phone to jobs but Lisa kept this one close because it was for her omega and she needed to be available for him just in case something happened and her sweet boy needed his alpha. Halting just outside the pawn shop, Lisa answered the call and completely ignored Lenny’s raised eyebrow.

“Sweet baby, you better have someone for me to kill for calling me during my heist or else you will be in deep trouble…,” she purred, smiling tightly in Lenny’s direction.

She almost urged him to return home first but decided otherwise since he would be safer with her around.

Having her brother suddenly went into heat during the day of the heist was very unexpected. And that jerk of a brother hardly even cared about his own heat kicking in despite the delicious scent Lisa had to endure the whole day. Such recklessness only added to the danger factor of the heist. It was good for the adrenaline, of course, but having Lenny exposed to dangers of being violated by other Alphas did made her edgy.

The weird part was, Lenny didn’t even seem to realise that he was in heat.

Sure, he complained a bit, saying that he’s horny and Lisa could hear him muttering to himself of how wrong it was to be thinking of having Lisa screwing him over as they got ready for the heist, but the idea of him being in his usual omega heat cycle didn’t seem to appear to him.

“GET YOUR BROTHER OUT OF THERE, NOW!”

Lisa barely registered Cisco’s yell when there was a gust of wind and yellow lightning streaked past her straight to her brother. The overwhelming scent of a powerful angry alpha had her hackles raised, the alpha within her chest stirred restlessly and she turned around just in time to see her brother being dragged away.

Lisa clutched the phone so hard that it broke.

_“Flash.”_

==============================

Len was having a blast at the little semblance of normalcy Lisa had arranged for him tonight.

It was something familiar after eternity within the Oculus—after eternity being stripped piece by piece by an unknown entity that he had to relive all of his memories all over again before he was spat out in Lisa’s safehouse. His body ached and in complete pain for the first month, his mind kept reeling back to the memories he was forced to relive—the good ones with his mother, the contented ones with Lisa’s, the wonderful ones with his grandfather’s and of course all the horrible ones growing up being abused by Lewis. It affected him, and he knew that Lisa was worried too.

He couldn’t help it.

He kept going back there, his mind reeled back to the memories and even when he was not, he was distracted with how wonderful and safe Lisa smelled like. He could barely get out of that disoriented state to reject the pills Lisa had made him take every month. It was some sort of suppressant, from the wild scrawl on the bottle said, but he couldn’t read the rest of the scrawl to know what it was for and it almost irked him to know that Lisa thought that he was sick.

He wasn’t sick.

Just disoriented….and sometimes terribly horny.

He rarely had that horny spells since he left his early twenties but ever since his return from the Oculus, he found himself to hide in Lisa’s guest room every month, moaning to his sheets as he fucked himself over with toys that Lisa seemed to keep in that room.

Hence, he thought that this heist would get him back on track, retrieve that small shred of normalcy back despite the reluctance in his chest. He didn’t find a heist to be appealing now.

But he’d do it for Lisa.

It should have gone well.

And it was—

—until Lisa’s boy toy (Len was not bristling at this thought, nope he was not) called and the Flash made appearance.

Len could barely catch a breath when Barry hurled him by the collar of his new parka and flashed them away.

When the scarlet speedster threw him across the floor of what it seemed to be an abandoned warehouse, Len finally realized that something was off with both him and the speedster tonight. 

It was an odd sensation, to feel something within him stirred timidly at the sight of leather-clad speedster. He usually would jump at the first chance to rile the speedster up. But now, he felt timid and he was actually lowering his gaze when the green eyes raked all over his body, his throat went dry as Barry’s breathing sped up. There was a low appreciative growl that tore from the speedster’s throat and Len shivered, feeling the jolt of arousal and the strange willingness to submit spread through his veins like wildfire.

Barry pulled his cowl back and Len whimpered upon meeting the piercing angry gaze of the scarlet speedster. He backed away, the small cold gun left abandoned by his side and he winced at how slick his thighs had been—it was like he was leaking there.

But he wasn’t supposed to do that. Only women were able to get wet when aroused. His anatomy wasn’t made for self-lubricating purposes.

“Snart…,” Barry growled, eyes narrowing and pupils fully dilated.

Len shivered and felt fear jolted through his body. He whimpered and tried to hide under his parka but Barry was there in front of him in a flash, pulling him up roughly by the collar of his turtleneck, the speedster was all but slammed him against the wall right the next second.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Len whimpered in pain, the impact was strong enough to leave a bruise on his back but Barry’s grip on his waist was unforgiving—strong, powerful and _bruising_ —fueled with anger and hatred that had Len squeaked meekly. Barry’s eyes flashed dangerously, dilated green eyes raked up and down his body with hunger and Len felt very much like a helpless prey, defenseless and too terrified to attack.

Oh, he knew what an evil speedster could do.

Zoom made a breaking news back when Len was in prison after all.

And an angry speedster was no different.

Barry could literally crush his bones in one supersonic punch, destroy his system by vibrating his molecules beyond its limit or burn him to crisp through an angry lightning. That boy was a walking danger. Only his golden heart made him less lethal than he actually was. Barry glared at him and Len opened his mouth to retort, to placate Barry maybe, because the younger man was obviously not being himself. Gone now the kindness and optimism the figurative ball of sunshine usually carry but instead, Barry was emitting anger, hatred and hurt.

“Barry—”

“You’re so full of yourself, aren’t you, Snart? I thought you’ve changed—Oliver told me you joined a team of heroes to save the world but the first thing that you do once you got back was to rob a measly pawn shop?” Barry hissed, one gloved hand pressed tight against Len’s throat, blocking the thief’s air passage successfully. “You little—”

Len couldn’t hear the rest. He was gasping and choking for air, his mind dimmed towards the darkness until the slightest shift of Barry’s hand caused him to lurch forward to gasp for air—

—only to be shocked when a pair of lips crashed against his own, teeth violently bit down on his lips, tugging and pulling to force him to obey and part his lips for Barry’s ruthless tongue to slid inside. He was shaking now, trembling against the wall in both fear and excitement as the speedster kissed him roughly, his shirt was ripped apart with inhuman force before he felt hot hands ran up and down his torso, leaving angry red marks everywhere.

Len whimpered when Barry pulled away, only to moan loudly when cold air suddenly hit his bare legs, long slender fingers trailed up between his thighs and forced their ways into his lubricated hole. He cried out at the intrusion, tears pricked his eyes because Barry was nowhere near gentle. The younger man was channeling his anger in the form of lust, and Len was helpless—gun was completely out of reach, body limp and exhausted as his mind seemed to be unwilling to go against Barry’s power. He screamed when another finger joined the ones inside him, spreading and scissoring him open without care. Barry hushed him, lips trailed up Len’s throat and settled on languid kiss as the speedster vibrated his fingers, each of Len’s moans disappeared into his mouth.

“You smell so inviting, Snart…So delicious, so inviting, so tempting. I want you, Snart. You’re so delicious,” the speedster murmured against the kiss, biting down on Len’s panting ones as his other hand found Len’s abandoned cock. “You like this, huh? Being pressed up against the wall, open and ready to be fucked—”

“B-Barry,” Len swallowed, whimpering in the mix of pain pleasure when Barry’s fingers thrust harder, jabbing hard onto his prostate and vibrated slowly there. “P-please…”

Len wanted Barry to stop.

It hurt so much.

“Mine,” Barry hissed instead, slick fingers slipped out of Len’s body, leaving the hole red with raw friction burn and slightly gaping before Len was filled again, this time with Barry’s much harder and thicker flesh.

The scream of pain tore through Len’s throat and he slumped like a rag doll between Barry and the wall. Barry huffed, moving one hand to bring Len’s arms up to rest around his shoulder while his other hand gripped tightly on Len’s bare hips. He fucked Len against the wall, the parka was the only savior Len has to protect his skin from getting friction burn from the way he was sliding up and down the wall for each of Barry’s thrust.

Len choked a sob as Barry got faster, the pleasure started to cloud his mind as moans after moans spilled out of his mouth. Barry hummed, lips planting small kisses over Len’s head while Len buried his face into the crook of Barry’s neck to inhale Barry’s musky scent.

He was violated but he couldn't help to seek comfort in the speedster's scent—the musky scent promised safety, as ironic as it sounded like right now.

"Barry....," he whimpered, tightening his arms around Barry's neck and nuzzled his nose to the younger's man frantically pulsing jugular.

A gasp then tore out of his throat when he felt a hand gently grasp his cock.

Barry smirked at the soft gasp and vibrated his hand, slow vibration to complement his precise stroke on Len’s cock and it didn’t take long for Len to explode in ecstasy, his come splattered all over Barry’s hand. He shuddered in the aftermath, whimpering and mewling helplessly when Barry flashed him down onto the floor, his legs bent and folded over his body as the speedster leant to kiss his neck.

“Mine,” hot breath fanned over his neck and Len let out a broken sob when surprisingly sharp teeth pierced in his skin, hot lash of heat burst from the bite across his body, engulfing him in something that was both powerful and protective. 

It felt as if Barry was claiming him. 

He felt his hole being stretched beyond his limit and Barry suddenly felt so big, terribly big that he could only mewl brokenly to cope with the pain.

“Mine.”

Warmth filled him and he felt a hand pressed down on his stomach, the weird sloshing feeling in his gut was nauseating. He peeked through teary eyes and realized that his gut was distended, curving slightly against Barry’s palm. Barry looked up from his distended stomach and grinned wickedly, the anger still burn violently in his eyes.

“Mine.”

His eyes widened at the sight where Barry was being buried balls deep inside him. The speedster’s flesh was big and snug against his stretched hole. 

“And you need punishment.”

Confused and very exhausted, Len barely had the time to blink when Barry leant to nibble on the bitemark again. The speedster vibrated inside Len, overstimulating his prostate without mercy until Len grew hard again. Barry ran a slender finger over Len’s hardened flesh, toying with the leaking head with a pleased smirk on his face before he bit down on the bitemark, Len’s mouth parted in a muted scream as Barry pulled out—the speedster was quite literally tearing him apart with the inhuman size of his dick. 

It was an excruciating pain, something that even Len’s high tolerance of pain couldn’t handle that tears finally trickled down his cheek. 

Len blacked out.

==============================

Barry woke up with the feeling of the best morning afterglow ever.

He felt sated, satisfied, and the strange thing within his chest was purring happily, now contented with getting over the anger and anguish that plagued him ever since Zoom murdered his father. There was a warm body breathing raggedly underneath him, and Barry instantly curled his arm around the narrow waist and rolled their bodies over, the need to cuddle and protect was strong as he shifted to properly spoon the other person.

That was when he realized that there was something wrong.

He blinked blearily, finally taking in the strange scenery of dusty warehouse of his surroundings. He was in his Flash suit, only now that his pants were unzipped and hung halfway down his hips while the upper half of the suit was completely open like a spread underneath him. Dry flakes of cum dirtied part of his suit and abs but what that got him severely worried was the dried blood on his limp cock.

Barry ran a hand over his flesh, being careful to not wake whoever it was that was snuggling beside him and exhaled a relieved breath when he found no injuries on his dick.

Then the realization hit him.

If he wasn’t injured (or remember getting injured _there_ ), the blood must have belonged to his partner.

He turned his head in lightning speed, only to yelp at the sight of a very unconscious and battered-looking Captain Cold, curled up against his side.

“Oh, fuck.”

Oh, fuck indeed.

Barry stared at Snart in horror, the memories of his violent impulsive action last night finally came back to him and he felt disgusted with himself.

He had practically, and very violently, raped Snart.

He was a rapist.

Barry felt the panic curled in his chest, but it was fought off by that strange thing again, that thing that was shifting in displease within his chest and filled him with the urge to protect and made sure his mate was okay.

_Wait, mate?_

Barry didn’t let the panic and confusion caught up to him as he instantly zipped himself decent again before turning his attention to Snart.

He fought back the urge to retch.

Using all the experiences he had watching Caitlin taking care of him, Barry gently inspected the extent of damage he had done to his sort-of-nemesis.

Barry then felt the need to hurl lighting to himself.

Snart’s condition was horrible. Bruises scattered all over his body, particularly on his hips and thighs. The blooming blue-black against the scarred skin was layered with a criss-cross of red angry lines. There was a dark bitemark on Snart’s neck that seemed that it had been bitten over and over again. The thief’s gut was weirdly distended, seeming like he had been drinking a lot of water but Barry knew better—if the dripping cum from the gaping hole hasn’t clued him enough. There was also a big bruise on Snart’s back and his left wrist looked a bit swollen. 

Barry winced when his gaze fell to the parka underneath Snart.

Barry really hoped that the dark red spot tainting the lower half of the parka was superficial.

But judging from the amount of blood, Snart probably needed stiches. 

Barry ran a hand through his hair. He couldn’t bring Snart to STARlabs, it was too far from this warehouse and he didn’t want to risk Snart hurting even more through the travel, superspeed or not. Joe’s house was closer, a bit in the suburban area that was much closer to the edge of the city than the center but it was totally out of question.

Joe would shoot Snart first before asking question.

Barry couldn’t risk that.

Snart shivered, a soft mewl of pain slipped past his lips and Barry immediately winced, racking his brain for the closest safe place.

Then he remembered Eobard.

He did inherited the evil speedster's house after all.

And that house was on top of a hill at the outskirts of the city, not even a 10 minutes normal human jog from this warehouse. He could make it there in 30 seconds, with consideration of slowing down a bit to not hurt Snart even more. Having made up his mind, he carefully wrapped Snart in the dirty parka and picked the unconscious man in his arms. Snart barely moved, only seemed to shift to bury his face against Barry's chest, looking adorably cute like that. Barry inhaled deeply and sped through the empty road, tightening his arms around Snart when the older man shivered at the cold of the wind. He made it to Eobard’s house without jostling Snart too much and promptly made his way to one of the guest room.

After making sure that the house was camera and bug free, he retrieved a basin of warm water and wiped Snart clean while simultaneously tried to not wince at the bruises that bloomed all over the thief’s body. He climbed onto the bed once the thief was cleaned enough, swallowing the lump in his throat as he rested a hand over Snart’s thigh. Taking a full five minute to compose himself, he gently pried the long legs open, bracing himself to see the worst of the damage.

Barry’s breath hitched in his throat.

Snart was indeed had been torn open and probably needed a few stitches. Little trickles of pinkish mix of cum and blood rolled over the raw puckered skin down to the little white cloth Barry had placed underneath him. Barry tried to be gentle and fast, but even with his speed, the pained groan kept slipping from Snart’s lips that Barry had to try to not wince each time it happened.

Once Snart was clean enough, Barry tucked the thief underneath a soft blanket, turned down the AC to soothingly cool temperature before whipping out his phone and dialed a familiar number.

It took two rings before the call was answered.

“Caitlin? Heyyyy....Um...I..uh...."

Caitlin huffed from the other line. Barry shuddered.

"Uh...I need your help. I fucked up.”


	2. #So_Done - Captain Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len tried to understand the new universe they are stuck in. To make it short? Len is so done with this new universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is un-betaed and might be subjected to updates once I get around to proofread it. Forgive the errors!

“You owe me a long explanation, Barry Allen…”

Barry winced at the patronizing tone of the red-haired doctor and promptly found the task of drying his hair required both of his hands and hundred percent of his attention.

He had zipped away to fetch Caitlin an hour ago and proceeded to meticulously clean and restocking the house before taking a second shower as Caitlin worked on patching Snart up. Caitlin took a long time treating Snart that Barry had almost panicked again, mind reeling to the worst possibilities in the book. He was so close to start biting on his nails when Caitlin suddenly smacked him across the head.

“Ouch,” he whined and flashed a betrayed look at the woman.

Caitlin didn’t even bat an eyelash.

“Explain.”

Sensing that his puppy eyes weren’t working with her, Barry gulped and blurted out quickly. “Isortofrapedhim.”

“Come again?” Caitlin frowned, arms crossed as her eyes narrowed dangerously at Barry.

She heard him, Barry knew it. 

She only wanted to hear him to say it again.

“I raped him,” Barry said meekly, cringing at the idea itself and couldn’t help but feeling the guilt again.

“I can tell,” Caitlin huffed, scowling now. “What I want to know is the reason you marked him without his consent. It isn’t fair to him,” she ranted, hands on her hips as she glared at Barry. “Not only you raped him but you also claimed him without his consent or allowing him to mark you back? That’s a whole new level of _evil_ , Bartholomew Henry Allen. You better have good explanation for this horrid action of yours before I perform a very painful lobotomy on you, Barry—”

Barry blinked stupidly.

“What?”

“—and what were you thinking? Pulling out while you have already knotted inside him? It doesn’t matter how angry you were and how pain resilient Snart is, that was a douche sadistic move—“

_“Knot?”_

Caitlin stopped pacing and glared at him. 

Barry hunched himself, returning the glare with a sheepish smile.

Caitlin narrowed her eyes at him, one elegant finger pointed menacingly at Barry. 

“Please tell me that you’re not doing what I think you’re doing, Barry…”

Barry gulped. “I think so…?”

Caitlin bent down to level their gaze, her eyes narrowed and suspicious. “Barry…”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what does knotting means?”

Barry’s mind reeled back to all possible meaning of the word but came up with no suitable definition for current situation. He gulped nervously, ready to bolt the moment Caitlin attacked.

“Um, to tie a string together?”

Caitlin’s hands twitched as if she was contemplating to strangle him.

“Boys…,” to Barry’s relief, Caitlin sighed like she was expecting this to happen. She side-eyed him, her lips still curled in disapproval. “You don’t pay attention in your sex ed class, don’t you?”

For his own sake, Barry decided to nod.

Caitlin heaved a heavy sigh. She twisted on her heels to face Barry, arms crossed over her chest as she spoke patiently. “Alphas like you have the ability to knot, Barry. That’s how you’re able to ensure pregnancy in your partners,” she paused and casted a quick look at Snart. “And as much as I understand that you don’t want to impregnate Snart with your pup, it is still incredibly dangerous of you to pull out when the knot has already formed….,” she winced and exhaled a deep sigh. Glowering at Barry, she added, “you’re lucky that the damage you inflicted on Snart wasn’t the worst-case scenario, or else Joe might have to prepare close-casket funeral for you, Barry.”

Barry wanted to ask whether Caitlin was joking but instantly held his tongue when it was obvious that Caitlin’s threat was not an empty one.

But there were questions that needed to be addressed….

Tapping into his speedforce in case he needed a quick escape, he started, “look, Caitlin…” 

He then was instantly cut off when Caitlin raised a hand.

“Save it, Barry,” Caitlin lowered her hand, her shoulder sagged. “I’m your friend and _I still am_ …but I need you to know that I’m very disappointed of you,” her sad voice immediately made Barry shrunk back and hunched himself on the small sofa. 

He swallowed his questions, as this was the first he had ever heard her use that tone on him. 

Caitlin twiddled with her fingers and refused to meet his gaze as she spoke in a soft voice.

“You know that I have been fighting for Omega’s rights since I was a teenager, Barry. And now that things had been looking good after you roped the Green Arrow into the campaign…,” she choked a sniffle, “….you did _this_.”

Barry gaped, completely speechless as clear droplets fell onto the marble floor at the tip of Caitlin’s shoes.

Caitlin was crying.

“Caitlin…,” Barry rushed towards the doctor, stopping just a few steps away, arms extended in a peaceful offering of a hug, although he wasn’t sure if Caitlin would want him to proceed.

Caitlin wiped her eyes with the edge of her sleeves and quirked a small smile at Barry’s extended arms. “I’m okay, Barry…,” she sniffled and squared her shoulder, her lips quirked to a wary smile. “I know that you’re a good guy. You cared for Snart after you were done. I know that you’re nothing like that… _man_ …”

Barry blinked.

He had no idea what Caitlin was talking about.

Thankfully, Caitlin was oblivious to his confusion. “I know that you’re a good guy, Barry,” Caitlin repeated, almost sounding like she was trying to convince herself rather than Barry. She tentatively grasped Barry’s outstretched hands and squeezed them in short pulses. “Just promise me that even if he ended up pregnant with your pup, you wouldn’t force him into a bond with you, okay? I know that he had already bore your mark, and you would felt compelled to bond with him…but, don’t force him, please, don’t force him. And I know that this would be imposing on your pride since your mark is strong and inhuman, woven with the speedforce itself—so the temptation to make him complete the bond with you would be immensely strong….but please,” she pleaded, before suddenly snorted under her breath. “I guess that is the only benefit he received from this whole disaster…Your mark. Only stupid and suicidal Alphas would dare to mess with him now that he bore your mark,” she broke into a soft chuckle before tightening her grip on Barry’s hand. “Promise me that if he refuses to bond with you, you will still help him with the pup, okay?”

As much as Barry wanted to nod to Caitlin’s words, he couldn’t help the question that blurted its way out of his mouth.

“Pup?”

He was pretty sure he was as pale as corpse the moment Caitlin started spouting the idea that Snart could be pregnant.

Heck, the red-haired sounded so confident of that possibility.

And the hell was this Alpha and Omega bond thing?

Barry wanted to ask, but decided it to be unwise to do so with Caitlin seemed to be emotionally affected with this.

He’ll ask Google later.

Or maybe Gideon would have an answer to this.

Caitlin dried the last of her tears and squeezed Barry’s arm—the little flinch she tried to hide was a fresh salt rubbed to Barry’s guilt-ridden heart. She then packed up her kit, handed Barry a long prescription of drugs for Snart before walking out. 

She suddenly halted by the bedroom door and tilted her head a bit to catch Barry’s eyes.

Barry blinked stupidly at her.

“And I suggest for you to start building the nest. It would help to comfort Snart when he wakes up. Just know that I won’t patch you up this time if he decided to ice you,” she cracked a small smile before walking out, her curls bounced sassily as the door swung behind her.

The silent _‘you deserve the ice’_ rung so loud even when she didn’t voice it.

Barry rubbed a hand at the back of his neck.

Why the fuck he decided to mess with the timeline again?

=====================================================================================

Numb.

Numb and déjà vu.

That was what Len felt when he groggily opened his eyes.

For a split second, Len thought he was thrown into Oculus again but he instantly calmed himself when he realized that he could still feel the dull throbbing of his swollen wrist. It wasn’t as painful as he expected, but the slight pain was there, so it wasn’t Oculus he was stuck in right now.

In Oculus, there was no physical pain, only numbness.

The numbness was there, but Len suspected it to have something to do with the IV hooked on his arm and not some divine entity’s mumbo-jumbo. He casted a quick look at the bedside table, wincing at the thought of being injured bad enough to warrant a whole tray of medicine. Judging by the lack of pain, he assumed that he was under the influence of a very strong painkiller to feel anything else. He tried to scoot up and rested his back against the soft headboard but there was a sudden sharp sting of pain that shoot up his spine.

He ended up crouched over, lying on his side, the noise of pain threatened to tear out of his throat. 

Crap.

It wasn’t a nightmare.

If the sharp pain in his ass was painful enough that even the drug could not dull it…

Len swore that he would ice Barry the moment he got his hand on his gun.

“S—Snart?”

Len flinched at the soft call, and couldn’t help the reflex action of trying to curl himself into a ball when there was a gust of wind and the tattle-tale flicker of familiar yellow lightning. He could see the outline of Barry’s body, a dark shadow against the dimming room, the carnelian glow of sunset outlined the speedster’s body as Barry crouched by the bed, long gangly arms extended as if he was trying to embrace Len.

Len was grateful that Barry remained an arm-length from the bed.

“Are you sane over there, Scarlet?” He spat through gritted teeth, his jaw was clenched as he tried to roll onto his back without hurting himself.

“May I help you, Snart?” Barry responded with a timid question—the speedster was inching closer to the bed, although thankfully kept his distance.

“That depends,” Len huffed, slowly rolling over to lay onto his back—and man…did his back hurt like a bitch. “Can you keep it PG-rated?”

“I’m sorry…”

Len rolled his eyes at the soft squeak.

Barry had that kicked puppy look on his face.

“Come on, Scarlet….,” he finally resigned, slumping awkwardly in his half-propped position. “Help a man sit, will you?”

“Of course,” the reply came out in a relieved sigh as Barry rushed to his side—in normal human speed—and Len tried to hold back the flinch as the bed dipped in Barry’s weight.

He shot a curious look at the kid’s face but Barry’s face was completely neutral as he eased Len into his arms, the big fluffy pillow was placed against the headboard before Barry gently arranged Snart to properly sit propped against the headboard. The long fingers puffed the sides of the pillow before they retreated and rested demurely on Barry’s lap.

Len waited in silence.

(He was NOT enjoying watching Barry fidget and squirm under his cold gaze, nope, he was NOT.)

(Okay, maybe a little….)

Barry wrung his fingers together, eyes darted towards Len every two seconds, his lips pursed as if he was about to say something. It went on like that for what it felt like eternity—Barry wringing his fingers nervously while Len stared with an unimpressed look. Eventually, Len huffed and swatted the speedster’s arm.

“You’re thinking too loud, kid.”

Barry flushed light pink and hunched his shoulder.

“Sorry.”

It took another two minutes of silence when Barry finally lifted his head up again and tentatively reached a hand to hold Len’s uninjured one.

The effect was immediate.

A surge of warmth spread from his hand up to his chest, flooding him with strange feeling to curl himself against the speedster and wrapped those arms around his body. Len tilted his head the exact moment Barry shifted, and a soft purr rumbled in his chest as his wish was granted. Barry’s free arm draped over his shoulder, slowly pulling him closer to snuggle against that toned chest. Barry growled in response, nose buried on top of Len’s head as he reclined their position until Len found himself curled up in Barry’s embrace, sandwiched between toned chest and fluffy pillow. He purred in content, nuzzling his nose frantically to the small patch of skin underneath Barry’s jaw.

Barry smelt really nice….

The kid smelt like ozone and electricity, with a hint of the refreshing scent of summer’s morning, of lilies and marigold that promised safety —kinda like how it would smell like on a wonderful morning after stormy night— and Len felt safe…very, very safe…

_My Alpha…_

Len’s eyes snapped open at that sudden thought.

He blinked in confusion, staring at Barry’s jugular, feeling the rapid thrum of the younger man’s pulse against his cheek. Barry’s arm was securely wrapped around his shoulder now as the speedster brought their interlinked hands up, soft lips planted careful kisses over Len’s knuckles. The gesture filled Len with warmth and so much love that he somehow had forgotten his intention of locating his gun and ice the kid for good.

Homicide plan aside, Barry was so warm and comfortable….

Len almost dozed off to sleep against Barry’s chest when he felt Barry shifted again. He swatted the kid’s chest and pulled the narrow waist closer, his head had found comfort in the subtle mix of soft skin and hard abs hidden underneath the red shirt. He buried his face against the fabric, inhaling deeply, his voice was barely audible as he mumbled groggily.

“Don’t move.”

“Snart, look—”

_“Len.”_

“—we’re not in our usual world—wait what?”

Len shifted his head so that he could rest his chin on Barry’s stomach and looked up to meet the kid’s confused gaze.

“Call me _Len_.”

“Huh?” 

“ _Len_ ,” Len hissed, averting his gaze from meeting the confused green orbs. “Snart remind me of that bastard…”

Len was not pouting. No, he was not. And Barry freaking Allen wasn’t cooing at his pout. Nuh-uh.

Barry chuckled softly. “Okay, _Len_ ,” he paused for a moment, tasting the name in his mouth, his eyes widened and a soft pleased purr rumbled traitorously from his chest. “ _Len_.”

Len decided he liked how his name sounded in Barry’s voice.

“Okay, Len…,” Barry started again, tilting Len’s chin up with his fingers before the older man could continue snuggling against his stomach. “I think I’m obliged to inform you that we are not in the same universe before you left with the Legends…”

That snapped Len up from his intention of falling back to sleep. “What?”

The kid has the guts to look sheepish.

“I may have messed with the timeline a bit…,” Barry mumbled bashfully.

Knowing the impact of messing with time based on Rip Hunter unofficial lectures, Len narrowed his eyes. “Barry….,” he hissed. “What did you do?”

Barry flinched under Len’s scrutinizing gaze. “I tried to save my mom….,” he offered meekly.

“And why is she still dead?”

That stung, but Barry decided to let it slide for now. “I was stopped by the Flash from Earth 3.”

“Uh-huh…,” Len hummed skeptically. “Earth 3, huh?”

“Yeah…,” Barry nodded. “You know, the multiverse? Like Zoom and the crazy metas…They’re from Earth 2 and there are infinite numbers of parallel universe out there….”

Len nodded thoughtfully and Barry cracked a soft smile at that.

“So, yeah…I tried to change the past, Jay stopped me and when I got back, things aren’t exactly the same…”

By now, Len had lost the mood to fall back to sleep. He was upset for reasons he himself didn’t know, but mainly he had this urge to sulk and ignore Barry. Wait. Not sulking. Len was positively NOT sulking when he burrowed his face to Barry’s side and mumbled softly. “How different it is exactly…?”

“Very different…”

“I ask _how_ different, kid….”

Barry flinched. “Uh…enough that we might have to worry about you getting knocked up with my kid…”

Len stiffened.

“Um…Len…?”

Slowly….and very carefully, Len raised his head up to stare at the speedster. He narrowed his eyes, completely not impressed. “You on something Scarlet? They finally cooked up drug strong enough to fry your brain?”

Barry sighed. “I sure hope so, Sn-um-Len….,” he gently pushed Len away, only to pull out a tablet from the thin air. “Look.”

Len gingerly crawled up so that he could draped his sore body over Barry’s side as he peeked at the tablet. Barry shifted unconsciously to accommodate him, one arm circled round Len’s shoulder—the speedster now has already sprawled on the bed. Len pressed his cheek against the firm flesh of Barry’s arm, eyes staring blankly at the tablet. Barry had multiple tabs open on the browser, but the one that was currently on display was a very explicit picture of someone’s inhuman-sized dick being buried deep in a tight ass. 

“You’re trying to say something, Scarlet?” Len drawled dryly. “Because if you’re trying to get an encore of last night’s debacle, I’m going to drag my sore ass out of this bed, find my gun and ice you right here.”

Barry winced as he finally shifted his gaze from Snart’s face to the screen. “Crap…Shouldn’t start with that tab…”

Len frowned at the screen, brain processing the somehow familiar image as he moved one hand to stop Barry from changing the tab. Catching the speedster’s eyes, he asked, “so….last night….when you rip me apart, it wasn’t my imagination that your dick got so fucking big?”

Barry winced, his fingers tightened slightly on Len’s shoulder. “Yeah…I guess? I may have knotted you last night…”

_“Knotted….”_

Barry stiffened at the disbelief look Len was giving him. “Yeah…you know…knotting is done to ensure pregnancy in—”

“And you were worried that I might get knocked up with your little speedy spawn….”

“Yeah…because apparently, I’m an Alpha and Caitlin said that you’re an Omega and last night you were in your heat cycle—which is very fertile phase for you—and Gideon said that I went into rageful rut because I was already in an instable state of mind to be able to function properly to avoid any Omega in heat. Plus, no Alpha could resist the pheromone released by Omega in heat, so I fucked up badly tonight…annnndddd….although I pulled out before the knot was fully formed, but the probability of pregnancy is high because—”

“—because you literally stuffed me with your seeds like one would stuff a turkey during Thanksgiving….,” Len concluded Barry’s rant dryly.

Ha. Ha.

He was so gonna ice the kid once he found his gun.

“Can you use another anology….?” Barry whined, lips jutted out in a pout. “I’m never eating turkey during Thanksgiving again...,” he mumbled, but changed the tab anyway.

“If I’m really knocked up with your kid, _kid_ …,” Len growled but his threat left unfinished when Barry grasped his hand and a surge of calmness suddenly filled him.

“There’s another thing…,” Barry mumbled, the hand that was holding Len’s reached up to brush the side of Len’s neck.

Len immediately closed his eyes, contented purr rumbled from his chest as the calloused pad of Barry’s thumb gently stroked the skin there. It felt like his skin was on fire underneath the kid’s touch, and the odd feeling of being safe and protected enveloped him again. He caught Barry’s hand and pressed it to his skin, burying his face into the speedster’s palm. He inhaled deeply, eyes fluttered close when Barry’s fingers gently stroke below his eyes.

He didn’t know why he had this urge to be close to Barry, but damn his possessive streak had resurfaced again.

“It really does affect you…”

Len’s eyes fluttered open upon hearing that soft mumble, a frown soon graced his face when he met Barry’s guilty eyes. It took him another complete minute to realize that he had been very clingy and cuddly towards Barry this whole time since he woke up. He blinked in realization, jaw slacked open slightly in horrified shock. Barry smiled softly and ran a thumb over the line of Len’s jaw.

“ _Scarlet_ ,” Len hissed, trying hard to resist the urge to cave into Barry’s touch.

“Yes, Len?”

“What the fuck is happening to me? Why am I clingy to you? Why do I feel the need to be close to you?”

Barry smiled wistfully. 

“I’m sorry,” the speedster murmured, hands never leaving Len’s jaw. “I’m really sorry….”

“Scarlet…”

Barry dropped his head, hands crossed over his lap, shoulders sagged in the familiar pose of guilt as Len felt the anger from being manipulated and used coloured his vision red. His eyes darted around the room, finally noticing that his cold gun was laid innocently over the bedside table at the other end of the bed. He reached out a hand towards the gun, fingers found the familiar metal trigger as Barry weakly lifted his head. Green eyes stared remorsefully at him and Len _knew_ …

He didn’t know how….

But he knew that whatever this new dynamic of this fucked universe had done to him….

It had taken away his freedom from him.

He could feel it. The urge to submit, to be close to Barry, to please and sooth his distressed Alpha. His hands were shaking, betraying his intention to ice the kid for good. He curled his lips in distaste, his ever logical mind was battling against his primal instinct—the rageful need to ice the speedster for dropping him into this whole mess versus his nature to wrap his arms around his Alpha and told Barry that everything was okay. It was a taxing mental battle, and Barry was making it worst by sitting silently there as if he was ready to accept whatever punishment Len intended to execute on him.

Len really wanted to pull the trigger.

But even though his mind was persuading him to do it, every other molecule in his body was screaming a unison ‘NO!’ to him.

His finger twitched to pull the trigger when there was a sudden blast of strong wind that successfully knocked the gun out of his shaky grip, pleasant delicious smell of hot pizza wafted in the air and for a split-second Len thought that Barry had used his power.

He must have been drugged up pretty nicely as his ever-vigilant senses took a full thirty seconds to realize that Barry hadn’t moved a muscle—the speedster was looking as shocked as Len, green eyes fixed at the bedroom door with a look of utter bafflement. Len shifted his gaze to the door, only to feel his jaw slacked in shock again at the sight of another Barry standing there, stack of pizza boxes balanced in his arms.

The other Barry peeked around the pizza boxes and grinned at them, scarred cheek pulled back to reveal strikingly white teeth before the doppelganger’s smile dropped and the kicked puppy look came out to grace his marred face.

“Um…Did I come at a bad time?”

Len was so done with this universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo....Savitar joined the story. He has different temperament and origin story in this one, and lho and behold, he might be the cupid that would help our two idiots to get together (so that he could woo Iris...lol NO). Poor Barry already at the receiving end of Caitlin's anger. And I know that some of you want to see Len's reaction. Perhaps his reaction is too controlled this time around? Hey, give the man some credit. He is still very much high on heat aftermath and the drugs Cait hooked him up. The moment he is up and running, he might reacted differently. Especially after he started showing. ;) 
> 
> Hope you like this update~ Comments, kudos and bookmarks are very much appreciated!


	3. "How the hell do you change the dynamic of a whole freaking universe?" - Savitar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Barry met Savitar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is un-betaed again, so please forgive any errors. I'm uploading this one early since there was a chance that I won't be around next week to update it. I hope you enjoy this update.

Caitlin was never fond of Alphas.

Alphas are mostly self-centered and egoistic, the kind of bastards that looked down on the ‘lower’ gender just because they have bigger dicks and physically stronger than others. Caitlin had seen so many Alphas abused their social hierarchy, and so many Omegas had fallen to abusive life because they simply were at the wrong place in the wrong time with such unpleasant company of obnoxious Alphas.

Not that Caitlin could complain.

Her dislike towards Alphas was the cause she hated herself after all.

She always thought that she was born with the wrong gender.

She enjoyed caring for others. Her mother used to think that her tendency to care and nurture was how her Alpha been manifesting oddly inside her but it isn’t like that. She hardly felt the needs to control and dominate, only the ever-demanding needs to love, care, nurture and protect. She was too loving and nurturing to be a normal Alpha. 

But there was no way to deny her gender. A female Alpha has a very _distinguishing_ anatomy.

Also, she has those horrid urges to go into a rut too.

It took years for her to gain her prided self-control. Years of struggle, self-experimenting and training till she could walk straight through a room full of Omegas in heat without even flinching. No drugs, no nothing. It was simply her strong willpower and well-trained self-control. 

And she was damn proud of that.

She tended to avoid other Alphas all these years, masking her Alpha with drugs and submissive acts, surrounding herself with Omegas and Betas and only getting close to trustworthy Alphas whom she trusted to not violate anyone against their will.

And to think that her most trustworthy of friend just violated a helpless Omega really turned her mood upside down.

Caitlin growled and curled her fingers to angry claws.

“Oww—!!” the man she was examining yelped in shock, lean muscles tensed against her nails. He tilted his head slightly, mismatched eyes darted blindly as if he was trying to glance at her. “Cait?”

“Sorry,” Caitlin huffed and quickly dabbed a sterile cotton pad on the scratch wound, marveling in the way it healed right in front of her eyes. “My bad, sorry.”

“O—Okay….”

They fell into silence again as she resumed her examination on his healed wounds. She ran her fingers across the burnt skin that marred half of his torso. In a strange way, she found that the scar was very attractive. It wrapped the right side of his body, shaped like lick of flames although they all knew that it was not fire that had caused the scar. It started from his shoulder and trailed down his back, only to disappear underneath his pants where she knew the trail of scars would continue down his leg. It was beautiful, as beautiful as the one marring his face.

Caitlin hoped she could do something about his damaged eye, though.

“Your burn is fully healed…. although I think that the scar would be permanent…,” she said, brushing her fingers over his scar again before planting a hand on his shoulder. “Turn around. I want to have a look on your eye,” she tapped his shoulder.

“Thank you, Caitlin,” he murmured and slowly turned around, cloudy white and bright green mismatched eyes met her own. “You’re incredibly nice to me.”

“Bar, we’re friends. I would always try my best to look after you,” she smiled, although she couldn’t help but feeling the slight guilt welling up her chest.

After all, she just told the real Barry that she wouldn’t help him if Snart iced him to the ground.

He seemed to not notice her guilt though.

“Even if I’m not the _real_ Barry Allen?” he murmured instead, shoulders stiff and hunched, looking all like scared lonely child as small shudder rolled down his body.

Caitlin lowered the flashlight she was just about to shine to his eyes. “Barry…”

“It’s the truth,” he whispered, mismatched eyes shone with dejection as they stared at her. “Joe, Iris, Wally, Cisco… all of them don’t seem to like me around….”

Caitlin reached a hand to squeeze his arm. “Barry, it isn’t like that,” she hushed him when he opened his mouth to retort. Dragging her chair closer so that her knees were touching the edge of the bed and she was situated between his legs, she rested a hand over his knee. “They all love you, trust me. It’s just a bit hard and sudden to adapt to your presence, that’s all.”

He averted his gaze from meeting her eyes and settled to pick on the mangled dried skin on his upper arm. When he spoke, his voice was quiet.

“Because I’m a disposable duplicate that isn’t supposed to be alive?”

“Barry…,” she sighed deeply, putting the flashlight away—there was no need for that anyway, they both knew that his cloudy right eye wouldn’t respond to the light stimulant at all. “You saved our lives, Barry. You saved the multiverse. You’re willing to die so that our Barry could save us. We could never repay you for that,” she said, cracking an assuring smile at him as she squeezed his hands.

He hung his head, refusing eye contact although he did clutch at her hands like she was his last lifeline. When he looked up again, his lips formed a shy smile while the gratefulness was genuine in his marred face. He looked innocent for a moment, just a hurt and broken boy trying to adapt to a sudden change in his life.

“Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely.

Caitlin swallowed.

“No problem, Bar,” she murmured back, feeling heat rose to her cheeks.

He beamed, giving her a genuine smile that melted her heart to the core.

Scarred or not, Barry’s smile could still melt even the most guarded of hearts. Caitlin swiveled her chair around, pretending to reach for his file as she held back a soft whimper. Her Alpha stirred within her chest, a hint of forbidden desire she had suppressed for all these years reawakened with a jolt.

Damn, why must she _always_ fell for another Alpha?

It isn’t normal. An Alpha shouldn’t have any sexual or romantic attraction to another Alpha. It isn’t natural. 

Caitlin bit her lower lips.

If only she was born an Omega or Beta…

“Can I put on my shirt now?” He asked softly, his voice was timid and careful.

Caitlin gulped. She wanted to say ‘no’, wanting to observe his beautiful scar for a bit longer but shakily jerked her head in a nod, pretending to busy herself with jotting down onto the medical sheets on his file. His vitals seemed okay, matching the original’s Barry’s record although she predicted that he would take a few more days to get used to his limited vision. She heard soft rustling behind her and by the time she turned around again, he was rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbow, just enough to cover the scar that ran down his arm. He smiled sheepishly at her and Caitlin suddenly longed to touch and kiss the marred skin of his cheek.

“I guess that you need to start calling me with my new identity, Cait…,” he chuckled, even though there was a hint of bitterness in his words. “Felicity’s hacking skill could only go so far and we don’t want anyone out of our circle to know that there are two Barry Allen walking around.”

“It will take some time to get used to call you _Sebastian_ , Barry… Although, to humour you, I can call you Bas…It sounded close enough to Bar…, ” Caitlin hummed, giving him a small playful grin. “Or I could give you a cooler superhero name and call you that when we’re not in public. Something better than _the Flash_ …”

He chuckled. “Isn’t that Cisco’s job?”

Caitlin pouted. “I can give cool names too,” she huffed sulkily, staring at the ceiling for a moment before deciding on a name that would suit him and his beautiful scars. “How about…,” she paused for a dramatic effect and waited until he raised an eyebrow at her, “… _Savitar_?”

He blinked at her before his lips pulled back, slowly breaking into a huge grin that must have hurt his cheeks.

Caitlin felt her heart stopped.

“I like that,” he hummed, eyes leering teasingly at her. “Much better than Rainbow Raider. You have improved.”

“I tried,” she responded dryly, despite the giddy feeling of having a special nickname she could call him with. “Admit it that it is a better name from _Sebastian Smythe_ ”, she teased, remembering the whole hilarious chaos that erupted in STARlabs when they dug Barry’s old high school shenanigan videos from the depth of the Internet. “Felicity is having way too much fun fabricating a background story for you, didn’t she?”

He groaned and rolled his eyes. “You have no idea,” he exhaled a deep breath, blowing imaginary strands of hair off his face. “I should have deleted those high school videos along with Snart’s online record. The stupidest two years of my life, and I actually graduated with a Valedictorian honour.”

Caitlin stiffened at the mention of Snart’s name.

She didn’t know whether to be terrified or amused at the idea that she was all too willing to kiss and fuck this time remnant Barry while in the same time she would be very pleased to watch the real Barry to be iced to the ground the next time she saw him.

She has already differentiated these two as two different individuals.

And it seemed that her luck has ran out because he frowned at her, seemingly to notice her shift of mood.

“Caitlin?” He asked, shuffling closer until he was kneeling by her knees. He planted his palms at each side of her armrests, eyes looking up earnestly at her. “Are you okay?”

Caitlin wanted to kiss him. She really wanted to.

But instead, she gave him a shaky smile and patted his head. He closed his eyes at the gesture, and she took advantage of his lack of resistance to thread her fingers through his soft hair, marveling in the small sigh that slipped past his lips as he rested his forehead against her knees. It didn’t take long for a gentle pleased purr to rumble from his throat.

She felt like a jerk like this.

Touching him with these kinds of desires when he was so desperate and craving for tactile contact. She felt disgusted with herself. It was like she was taking advantage of his desperation. 

She wasn’t blind. 

She did notice the way the rest of the team had treated him. They all went on and on of how heroic the time remnant was when they thought he died for them, but once they found him barely alive afterwards, they started to treat him like a stranger, differentiating him and the real Barry like he was some kind of an abomination. It was cruel to watch, thus, she tried to be nicer and friendlier to him as much as she can.

But it never seemed enough.

“Caitlin?” 

She jumped a bit at that soft call. “Ye-yeah?”

“Did Barry do something to anger you?” he murmured after a short period of hesitance.

Damn, this version of Barry was really attentive.

He looked up at her, eyelids fluttered open to reveal dilated green and milky white orbs. “I’m an Alpha too, Cait. I can sense that you’re very angry and so close to picking up a fight when you returned this afternoon. A bit of a shock to me, though. We all thought that you’re a Beta before. I never sense the Alpha in you before this.”

Caitlin bit her lower lips.

He smiled assuringly and squeezed her hand. “What did he do?”

Melting thoroughly to his soft gentle voice, Caitlin groaned and muttered through her gritted teeth. “He raped Snart.”

The shocked look the time remnant gave her was almost hilarious that she would’ve laughed out loud if the topic of discussion wasn’t as serious as this.

“Wh-what?”

“My exact reaction.”

“But…why? He… _We_ fought teeth and bones to ensure that the Omega Protection Act passed through the parliament—”

Caitlin snorted. “Beats me,” she mumbled, before something crossed her mind. Frowning a bit, she held Savitar’s gaze, lips curled calculatively. “Um..Barr— _Savitar_ …,” she corrected herself before she could proceed, “…do _you_ know what knotting is?”

The time remnant blinked, seemingly taken aback at the unexpected question. He didn’t take long to answer, though. “Uh, sure. Of course I know. Have never knotted someone before but I did paid attention in my sex ed class. Written a couple of research papers on the subject too—you know, dynamic of our genders and whether homosexuality and polyamory are possible with us Alphas are terribly possessive and territorial…It was a fun paper to write, but I got severe backlash back then from phobics, so wasn’t much of a fond memory,” he frowned and shuddered a bit, completely not noticing the way Caitlin’s eyes grew wide. “Why do you ask?”

Caitlin tried really hard to ignore that tidbit of information regarding his interest in homosexuality. There was a more pressing matter right now.

She would get back to that info later when the timing was better.

“Barry didn’t know what knotting means when I asked him this morning,” Caitlin said seriously.

He stared at her with the look like he was expecting her to throw some cheesy punchline to a horrible joke.

When she didn’t, he gaped. “That’s impossible,” Savitar whispered and shook his head. “If _I_ remember, he, as the original one should remember too…”

“Do you think he is an impostor?” Caitlin theorized, almost kicking herself for not thinking of that possibility earlier. “Or maybe someone whammied him?”

He frowned upon her words, brows creased in worry. Then, he stood and grabbed his jacket. “You know, I should try to check. If he is really an impostor, Snart might be in a major danger now.”

Caitlin held onto his arm before he could flash away. “You’re not going there alone,” she hissed, fingers curled to a painful claw round his arm, her voice dropped to the Alpha tone she had sworn to never use. 

If she had to challenge him to stop him from going into figurative mouth of doom, so be it. 

He bristled a bit in response to her challenge, a low warning growl ripped through his throat but he composed himself right the next second. Smiling warily, he murmured, “Cait…”

Caitlin growled back, low and rough. “If he is really an impostor, you’re at risk too. And you just healed from a bunch of fatal injuries from Zoom’s multiverse cannon—”

“I’ll be back,” he cut her off with yet another million-megawatt smile, pointedly ignoring her worried rant.

Then, he was gone in a flash, leaving Caitlin with the briefest feeling of warmth that had engulfed her and the tingling warmth on her cheek where she was almost sure he had kissed her.

She couldn’t help the light blush that dusted her cheek as she shrugged her imagination away. That was impossible. Barry was straight, so Savitar should be the same. He only showed interest in Omegas and Betas before. Never Alphas….

Caitlin sighed deeply and returned to her tests.

He may never saw her the way she wanted it, but a girl could dream…

================================================================================

Len used to question the sanity of the people who eat pizzas with pineapples on them.

He never had the chance to try one, despite Lisa and Mick’s obsession over the glorious Hawaiian chicken that apparently came with pineapple topping. He was skeptical at first, but not exactly against to the idea of trying it out. Though, the idea of a fight against Mick and Lisa for a slice of their Hawaiian chicken pizza didn’t seem to worth the energy.

He only settled for the pepperoni and cheese pizza they bought for him instead.

But now, curled on Barry’s bed with the comforter wrapped around his shoulder, he was chewing his new favourite pizza like he hasn’t eaten for days. His body was very sore, the pain started to make itself known now that the effect of the painkiller wore off since he had chosen to discard the IV, but nothing could stop him from watching the scene that was unfolding in front of him.

When else he would get the chance to observe the full nature of Barry’s aggression?

There was a deep growl and a crash as the whirlwind of human-shaped blur and yellow lightnings finally slowed down enough to show the two wrestling speedsters. His Barry—the unmarred one—had the upper-hand this time, now pushing up the scarred Barry against the wall, lips curled in anger as the low growl ripped again from his throat. The scarred one barely flinched, mismatched eyes stared in bewilderment at his Barry.

“Barry?” The doppelganger spoke, voice hoarse.

Len blinked at the doppelganger’s eerily familiar voice. As confusing as it was to watch this fight—which was intense and scary because god damn, they busted a motherfucking hole in the wall—Len didn’t actually sense any threat from the other Barry. 

His Barry, on the other hand, was emitting aggression from every inch of his body, always making sure that the doppelganger was nowhere in direct line of sight to Len.

It was as if Barry was protecting Len from the doppelganger.

“You are not going anywhere near him…,” Barry growled, fingers tightening around the collar of the doppelganger’s shirt.

The other Barry raised his hands up, as if he was showing that he meant no harm, mismatched eyes carefully darted towards Len’s direction. “Look, Barry, I—”

It triggered an immediate reaction, much like how the fight first started when the doppelganger had dropped the pizza boxes beside Len earlier and gave Len a tentative smile while Barry watched.

Barry had snapped and instantly turned aggressive after that.

“DON’T YOU DARE TO LOOK AT MY MATE!”

Len barely hid his flinch when Barry landed a punch right across the doppelganger’s jaw that was accompanied with a sickeningly loud crack. There was blood, and the doppelganger was nursing his jaw—presumably broken—with one hand, while the other hand tried to pry Barry’s grip on his collar off. Len chewed thoughtfully on the last bit of his pizza, relishing the sweetness of the pineapple that erupted in his mouth as he reached for his gun. Barry wasn’t paying attention to him now, and Len’s mind was finally clear enough without that stupid instinct to oblige and protect the scarlet speedster.

He fiddled with the setting of the cold gun, lowering it to the lowest one and aimed it towards Barry.

He didn’t know how long he would have his freewill, but he better used it before he was back to square one.

Taking in a deep breathe, he drawled lazily;

“Hey, Scarlet!”

Barry turned his head in Len’s direction. 

Len smirked and pulled the trigger. 

“Cool it, kid.”

Call him sadist but Barry’s shocked pained howl was _very_ satisfying.

=====================================================================================

Savitar didn’t know how Snart pulled it off but damn, was he grateful for the thief’s quick trigger fingers.

He had been expecting a fight when he decided to crash into this house. However, he was expecting a fight with a powerful metahuman that impersonated Barry, or maybe a whammied Barry himself. He was expecting to fight someone who wouldn’t put him as a bad guy to team Flash.

But, he wasn’t expecting to go into a full one-on-one battle with a rut-induced rageful Barry.

He should have known to leave the place the moment he sensed the unmistakable scent of Alpha in rut lingering in the house.

But, in his defense, how would he have known that Snart was an Omega, and apparently Barry’s mate?

Up to the point when Barry had picked him up in his timeline, Snart’s gender status was unknown and they were still friendly nemesis.

How the hell Barry changed that in the few days Caitlin held Savitar in bedrest was a mystery.

“Len?”

He slid down the wall as Barry’s confused voice rung through the silence of the room, his jaw throbbed in pain. Barry was frozen in front of him—Snart had iced him with the lowest setting of the new cold gun Cisco made for Lisa. It has successfully immobilized Barry in place without causing anything beyond slight frost burn. It was good thinking on Snart’s part. Savitar didn’t want Barry to hurt, now that he was sure that it was indeed Barry and not some impostor. He needed no more aversion from the rest of his old friends by letting their Barry got hurt. 

_Their_ Barry.

Huh, he didn’t really belong here.

“Lenny?” Barry asked again, voice hurt.

Though, the thrumming pain in his jaw distracted Savitar from paying attention to Snart’s response, only to regret it the next second when the thief was suddenly in front of him, skillful hand gently inspected his jaw.

Savitar held in his breath, immediately pulling out all the gory crime scene he had dealt with from the depth of his mind. He needed the images so that he could kill his primal urge to claim Snart—splattered brain, mutilated innards, decomposing flesh, bloating stomach that oozed disgusting puss—anything, _everything_ that would kill his impending arousal. He had never been so close to an Omega that was freshly out of heat before, and to have said Omega wrapped in a scent so like his own has almost blanked out his mind from thinking sanely. 

Snart’s thumb barely grazed his skin and Savitar held back a whimper as Barry snarled.

He remembered the techniques he mastered during high school and started to arrange his breath, inhaling and exhaling deeply through his nose to have a better control over his more baser needs. It was a lot to ask from him, with Snart so close and emitting inviting scene, skin so warm and calloused against his own, but he made it. 

He made it. 

Savitar exhaled the last breath he was holding, now finally in full control of his own primal needs.

“Seems like he broke your jaw,” Snart murmured, oblivious to Savitar’s inner struggle earlier as he reached his other hand as if he wanted to help Savitar to support the broken jaw.

Barry growled and Snart instantly recoiled his hands back.

“Shit,” the thief cursed.

Savitar shuddered and tried to give Snart and assuring smile, despite how much it hurt his jaw to do so. He signed a quick motion to tell Snart that he was going downstairs, too hurt to speak right now. 

He didn’t wait for Snart’s response. 

With a hand held against his broken jaw, he flashed downstairs to clean up his injury and grabbed a pack of frozen peas from the fridge. Normal man would require a quick trip to ER with this kind of injury, but his power would heal it in a couple of hours. Closing his eyes briefly at the relief the cold frozen pack gave to his sore jaw, he flashed back upstairs to the unlikely pair.

They were expecting him, of course.

Barry had apparently vibrated himself free from the ice encasing, now he was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirts off. There were patches of frostbites on his torso, but nothing seemed too serious that a couple of hours couldn’t heal. His unmarred double has his eyes trained on his knees, confused frown graced his perfect features. He lifted his head just slightly as Savitar entered the room, head reclined to the side in an apologetic manner.

Savitar nodded back.

Snart, on the other hand was sitting cross-legged in a half-cocoon of blankets on the loveseat near the fireplace, a freshly-opened pizza box on his lap while his cold gun laid idly beside him. The thief was looking so pleased with himself as he munched on the pizza, lips curled to a smug smirk every time Barry winced as he tried to tend to his frostbites.

Savitar couldn’t help the amused smile that grew on his face.

It was really rare for an Omega to look _that_ pleased after injuring their Alpha.

It was an even rarer thing to witness Captain Cold bundled in a bunch of blanket, looking adorably cute as he munched on a pizza.

“ _Please,_ Scarlet Two…Take a picture. It’ll last longer,” Snart’s snarky drawl snapped Savitar out of his amused trance.

Savitar smiled back and carefully inched closer, assessing each of Barry’s reaction to his approach.

It was perfectly normal for a newly mated Alpha to be incredibly violent and territorial over their mate, especially in the presence of another Alpha. And since Snart was not acting like a typical Omega, it must had made Barry to be even more edgy and anxious. When Barry didn’t react violently as he neared the sofa Snart was curled in, Savitar took a quick step and settled himself on the floor near the bed and a great distance away from the sofa—a silent gesture to convince Barry that he wasn’t going to touch Snart.

They fell into awkward silence afterwards.

“So….,” Savitar broke the silence when he could no longer bear it. “You two mated? When did that happen?”

“Pfftt—”

Savitar tilted his head in confusion when Snart suddenly snorted while Barry visibly stiffened.

“ _Mated_ …,” Snart hissed, replacing the pizza box on his lap with the cold gun as he shifted so that he could face the both of them. “I guess that’s why I found it so hard to displease him?”

“Uh…?” Savitar’s hand came up just in time to support his broken jaw so that he didn’t agitate the injury by gaping incredulously.

Surely these two know about that before they mated, right?

“Len, I’m sorry—,” Barry started but was instantly cut off when Snart glared at him.

Savitar watched the interaction curiously. Snart was a rare Omega indeed.

But Barry was behaving weirdly too.

Said Omega then turned towards him, cocking the cold gun dangerously with the ever present smirk on his face. “Alright, I’m going to make this simple. We have questions, you have questions. Quid pro quid, Barry Two….You answer our question, we answer yours, okay?”

Savitar was too curious for his own good. Thus, he jerkily nodded his head, being mindful of his sore jaw.

Snart lowered his gun. “Alright. Us first,” he drawled, eyeing Barry who was gingerly putting on his shirt back. They exchanged a quick curious look before Snart sighed and asked grudgingly, “who the hell are you?”

“Barry Allen—,” Savitar answered automatically, barely able to stop himself. He lowered his gaze upon skeptical looks he was receiving and added quietly, “—or used to be. I’m a time remnant,” he looked up to his double. “You created me, remember? To defeat Zoom—”

“I remember…,” Barry croaked, his voice getting softer near the end. “…but you died….” 

Savitar couldn’t help but flinched.

Yeah, he got it. Everyone wanted him dead. He got it. There was no need to rub that on his face.

Staring dejectedly at his knees, Savitar mumbled, “I survived—both the multiverse cannon and the time paradox. We discussed this, remember? You don’t know how it happened either.”

Savitar watched in confusion as Barry tensed up.

Snart huffed quietly, motioning Savitar to go on with a wave of his hand. “Your turn.”

This time Savitar had his eyes focused on Barry. “What happened to you? Caitlin said you’re acting real weird and it seems that you have amnesia too—since you forget about rescuing me. What happened?”

Barry bit his lips, taking a long minute to string his explanation together. “I…I…,” he struggled, trying really hard to not meet the mismatched eyes of his time remnant. He had gone back to change the timeline, completely ignoring the fact the action will make his time remnant’s sacrifice void and useless.

If Jay didn’t stop him, he was sure that his time remnant would be super angry with him.

Snart rolled his eyes. “He messed up the timeline. And although he was stopped, something happened along the way that by the time he returned here, the universe isn’t the same as it was to him before he travelled back in time,” he snapped, face twisted to a scowl. “As for me, I was in the Oculus for quite some time, and by the time Oculus spat me out, the universe has set to this fucked up version.”

Savitar really wanted to ask for Snart to elaborate on that.

Really? Another version of their universe? How would it be? What was so different that Barry forgot all the years he—they—spent trying to be a better Alpha?

But he had to hold back the questions since he has used up his turn.

Snart exhaled deeply. “Our turn,” he said, hands absentmindedly stroking his gun. “This Alpha-Omega mating thing…How does it work?”

Savitar was reasonably taken aback at that, eyebrows raised up in shock. He casted a quick look at his double. “Wait, you don’t know? Is that the effect of your amnesia too? Barry, we suffered five years of awkward sex ed classes to prepare for this—”

The soft whirring of the cold gun cut him off.

“Answers, kid,” Snart hissed, clearly getting impatient. “I feel no obligation to you as I to him. I won’t hesitate to shoot.”

It took a complete second for the realization to dawn into Savitar. 

“The universe before you messed the timeline…,” he breathed, voice completely awestruck. “…it doesn’t have this kind of dynamic between Alpha-Beta-Omega, right?”

Both Barry and Snart nodded.

Savitar was understandably stunned. “Cool…,” he breathed, only to bit back his words when Snart glared at him. “I mean, awful…,” he corrected, blinking sheepishly.

Barry chuckled, clearly amused.

Snart wasn’t as amused, though. The cold gun whirred back to life and Savitar reflexively jerked away, only to whimper in pain as the motion agitated his throbbing jaw.

“Answers, kid,” the thief snarled.

Savitar was about to answer when another thing crossed his mind. Mismatched eyes grew wide, even the cloudy white one as he stared at Barry. He pointed a finger in Barry’s direction as he bellowed;

“HOW THE HELL DO YOU CHANGE THE DYNAMIC OF A WHOLE FREAKING UNIVERSE?”

Snart banged his head to the armrest.

He was never going to get his answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who else didn't expect Cait to be an Alpha too? Since I use this guide (http://puppylover857.deviantart.com/journal/Omegaverse-Explanation-and-Guide-441250200) as the base of my ABO universe, Cait is an equivalent of a queer/gay/trans here. I have no experience with queers, coming from a very conservative and strict community myself, so I hope that the way I portray her here isn't offending anyone. If so, I deeply apologize beforehand.
> 
> And yes, I hinted a bit, and I just added the polyamory tag. It's gonna be Savitar/Caitlin/? as the side pairings. Who wanna guess the third partner of their relationship and their gender?
> 
> As for Savitar, he isn't really evil in this one. I wish to explore the idea of Savitar before he turned evil. I portray him as the version of time remnant that had to face the rejection of team Flash. He was still more dorky Barry than the psychopathic Barry we saw on the show. Plus, I have my personal headcanon that the time remnant that turned to Savitar in the show was actually the one who was supposed to die in the fight against Hunter Zolomon. It ought to explain the reason Savitar was so pissed that Barry played god and changed the timeline. If this was true, Barry literally had nullify his sacrifice. Of course he would be pissed.
> 
> And please do not hate Barry. He would soon learn to control his new instincts. You see how easily Savitar control his urges. Barry should be able to do the same too if he knows which instincts he needed to pay attention to.
> 
> Kudos, comments and bookmarks are highly appreciated. Thank you very much, and till the next update!


	4. “I ask for explanation. Not a motherfucking presentation.” - Len

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Barry got some answers. Barry bonded with Savitar. And Gideon crashed into the family.
> 
> Also, Walmart is weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who skipped family gathering to write this? Meeee~
> 
> This is un-betaed again, so please forgive any errors. I guess I'm fixing my updates to be weekly updates, posted on either Saturday or Sunday. Depends on my schedule.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this update.

Len stared.

He stared and stared and stared.

Savitar started to wonder whether he had a hole somewhere through his body because he was half-convinced that Cold’s stare could burn holes on his soft (meta)human flesh.

On the other hand, Barry was trying so hard to keep a neutral face while simultaneously hiding that little quirk of amused smile on his lips.

“You gotta be kidding me….,” Len drawled out, purposely dragging the syllables.

Savitar visibly flinched, inching closer to the whiteboard, mind mentally calculating the possibility of the whiteboard to be a good shield against ice blast. 

Because, believe it or not, Leonard Snart was a hella scary Omega and Savitar was practically scared frozen in place with that icy glare alone. Damn, what had Barry done to piss off his mate like this? Seriously! Omegas should be in a pleasantly good mood—glowing even—after being mated. Not criminally pissed off and looked like they wanted to make human popsicle out of random whims!

“You said you want explanation,” Savitar definitely did not squeak—no he did not, his voice just happened to be trembling.

The cold gun did hurt after all.

And he just healed from being literally burnt alive last week, so Savitar did not want frost burn to add to that, thank you very much.

Len huffed and rolled his eyes, the whirring of the cold gun died down as he slung the weapon over his shoulder. “I ask for explanation. Not a motherfucking _presentation_.”

He had to be amused though. Barry Two did pulled out a proper presentation set up in a literal 2 minutes of him headbanging against the sofa earlier. A large whiteboard, sleek futuristic projector and silver tablet just magically appeared in the room after a brief whirlwind of blue streak.

Len had to give it to the time remnant though. That blue sweater looked damn good on him.

Not that it was a match to Barry’s red shirt that stretched just nicely over his chest though….

“I—I,” Savitar stuttered, flushing slightly. Maybe he had gone a bit tad overboard, but Snart said that he wanted a thorough explanation! He swallowed, throat felt dry and parched as he squeaked out, “…we might need visual aid?”

Len rolled his eyes, sighing heavily while Barry chuckled.

“Fine. Go on. Give us your presentation, kid,” Len waved his hand dismissively, flopping back to the bed, only to realise that he had flopped himself right into Barry’s lap.

Len totally didn’t feel guilty at all when Barry wrapped his arms around his waist despite the subtle flinches of pain the speedster tried to hide.

Nope. Not guilty. Nuh-uh. Len didn’t have the urge to ran his hands over the frostbite patches to sooth Barry. Nope.

The fact that his hands twitched in Barry’s direction meant nothing.

“Okaaayyyy,” Savitar trailed awkwardly, eyes fixed on the way Captain Cold curled in Barry’s embrace, one arm linked with Barry’s own while the cold gun nestled in his free arm. “Um, I guess I should start with basics?”

Barry nodded encouragingly.

Savitar cracked a shaky smile. “So, in…I guess you could say, _current_ universe, there are three primary genders…”

“Male, female, non-binary?” Barry interjected without thinking.

“Eh—what?”

The confused look on Savitar’s face had Barry to duck his head sheepishly. He didn’t googled that earlier, only focusing on trying to search about the mating part—Wikipedia was particularly helpful, albeit not entirely reliable. 

Guess those genders were not a thing in this universe, huh?

Len rolled his eyes and swatted Barry’s arm. “Let your twin explain, kid. No interfering.”

“Sorry,” Barry murmured, arms tightened possessively over Len’s body when he noticed that his doppelganger was watching. He caught the time remnant’s confused mismatched eyes, suddenly feeling the unexplainable rise of jealousy inside him, hence making his next words to come out more tensed than he intended. “Please continue.”

“Right,” Savitar cleared his throat, swiping over the tablet to pull out a fresh slide that shows humanoid figures on the screen. “So, um…three genders—Alpha, Beta, Omega. Each has two sub-genders, the males and females—uh, each have specific differences regarding their natural anatomy, although it is mostly easier to determine one’s gender through behavioral observations,” he flicked through a couple of slides that show the physical differences of each gender before pausing for a brief moment, and casted a quick look at the pair.

Snart didn’t hide his wide-eyed curiousity at a very distinguish anatomy of female Alpha shown on the screen. The thief leant away from Barry’s embrace, crawled closer to the edge of the bed, eyes narrowed though he looked very much like a curious cat. Barry was more expressive, mouth slightly open as he gaped in incredulity, but the shock and curiosity matched the one on Snart’s face.

“Wait…,” Len said, pointing wryly at the screen. “Lisa mentioned that she’s an Alpha. Does that mean that my sister had a dick? I mean like really? Her clit can transform to dick? She can impregnate her boy toy?”

Barry blanched and spluttered, “Len!” 

“What? That’s a legitimate question.”

“You can’t just up-front ask my time remnant if your sister had a dick!”

“As if you don’t want to know yourself, Scarlet.”

Savitar had to wonder what the heck he had done to the universe that he ended up giving sex-ed to his ex-nemesis and a version of himself.

This was beyond awkward.

It was then followed by a brief moment of silence as Savitar internally lamented over his sins to the universe while Len was observing the diagrams on the screen like a curious little cat as Barry tried to calm down his blush.

“Barry?” Barry called hesitantly once he was calmed enough, palm pressed over Len’s mouth when the older man wanted to ask some potentially embarrassing question again.

“Uh, you don’t call me that?” Savitar responded in a heartbeat, almost like an automated response, his voice was defensive like he was expecting a scolding. “Like, it would be so confusing? Joe prohibits you calling me that? Cause you’re Barry and if you call me Barry, there would be severe confusion? You kinda roped Felicity to make a new identity for me so that I could stay?”

It was another moment of silence as Barry tried to digest the information while Savitar wondered who of the higher power had he pissed off to deserve this kind of fate. Len took advantage on Barry’s moment of shock to free himself from Barry’s grip.

“Awkward,” the thief piped in unhelpfully, eyes still glued on the images on the screen.

Savitar mentally seconded that comment.

Barry cringed. “So, what do I—I mean, the me before I changed the timeline—called you?” He murmured and couldn’t help but wonder how weird that would sound like.

“Oh,” Savitar breathed, though his smile did grow tense for a split second, before his face fell to a complete poker face. “Bas. You call me ‘Bas’, short of Sebastian, because of _you-know-what_ ,” his voice trailed softer and more embarrassed near the end, though he eventually squared his shoulders, turned on his heels to pretend to swipe through the tablet, his back now facing the pair.

Len narrowed his eyes at the time remnant.

He recognized a broken soul when he saw one. 

Len was one himself, so he _knew_. This kid…this time remnant of Barry Allen…he was treading on the dangerous territory—so close to falling into the dark path Len barely avoided. Must be hard for the kid, since he practically lost his own identity and now only existed as someone else’s shadow. Not a pleasant idea—to be a shadow, voiceless and unwanted. Len remembered how that felt. When nobody listened to him, opting to believe his old man instead. Voice unheard no matter how much he screamed, presence unwanted no matter how hard he throve to be accepted, until it reached a point that he no longer believed he was anything more than what they told him he was.

_Thief, useless brat, liar, worthless—_

Huh, guess he did owe Barry for having so much faith in him to reverse the 30 years negative effect of those words and made him to finally see his worth as more than old criminal.

Time to return the favor.

“I’m still gonna call you ‘Barry’, kid,” Len drawled out, lips curled to a smug smirk when the time remnant tensed. His smirk grew wider when he felt the low threatening rumble from Barry’s chest. 

Nice. Someone’s jealous. 

“I have a vast selection of nicknames for my Barry here. You get to keep the name around me, kid,” he added but couldn’t resist to slump deeper into Barry’s embrace.

The speedster’s warmth was very nice to be wrapped around his sore body.

Savitar turned around to give Len the widest dumbfounded eyes the universe had ever seen. “Why?”

Len shrugged. “I like calling my _beloved_ with pet names,” he said lazily, although he couldn’t help the tug of relief as Barry relaxed behind him. “Still gonna call you with your old name, kid. Just roll with it. I’m gonna call you that around your nerd squad and call you with your current identity in public. Scarlet here could live with my _very affectionate_ nicknames for him.”

Len didn’t think much of it. Kid deserved to have someone calling him with his real name, to know that he was still the same person despite the scars and this time remnant bullshit. Otherwise the kid might goes all batshit crazy after his existence being constantly denied and turned on them as an enemy. Len knew first-hand how dangerous Barry could be if he was so much lost control of his head. If the same power turned evil? Hallelujah, Len knew that it would be disastrous.

Plus, he rarely called his Barry with that name anyway. Scarlet already has so many nicknames that could be used—Barr, Bear, Scarlet, Red, Jailbait, yada yada yada. Point was, Scarlet shouldn’t be greedy.

Really, Len didn’t think much of it. It was just an act of caution, nothing more.

However, Len wasn’t expecting to be at the receiving end of the widest and _(debatably)_ cutest grateful eyes from the scarred time remnant.

Oh, fuck.

“Thank you,” the time remnant croaked, his voice brokenly grateful.

Shiiiiittttt, Len was not holding back his instinct to coo and pat the kid’s fluffy hair. Nope. Nuh-uh. He is Captain Cold. He did not have any soft spots on things with fluffy fur (hair) and puppy eyes. 

“ _Len_ ,” Barry growled against his shoulder, long fingers curled possessively around his arm.

“Yes, _sweetheart_ ~?” he responded, proud with himself as he was able to dull the instinct to cower and oblige the needs to please the younger man.

Leonard Snart bowed to no one. Not even his own Alpha.

“You’re mine,” Barry grunted, although the intensity of his voice had been reduced a bit as Len leant up to nuzzle his nose directly underneath Barry’s jaw.

“Stop being a jealous ass,” Len muttered, lips curled to a smug smirk although internally, he was breaking into a gleeful cackle at the realization that he could manipulate Scarlet’s mood with his touches alone. “You already have so many nicknames. Don’t be greedy.”

Len was gently stroking the length of Barry’s neck when the speedster exhaled a deep breath and nuzzle his nose to Len’s hair. Len purred in response, something he wasn’t even aware he did until Barry groaned and pulled him closer. Len hissed when the sudden movement agitated his sore body, but Barry was quick to ran down his hands down Len’s body, to the sorest spots—like he knew where to touch to sooth Len the most. The light subtle vibration did wonders to his bruised battered body, invoking a soft pleased moan to slip from Len’s mouth. Len responded by threading his fingers in Barry’s hair, pulling the speedster down for soft languid kiss.

“Scarlet,” Len murmured, nipping lightly on Barry’s lower lips when the speedster tilted his head to deepen the kiss. _“Slow.”_

Barry openly whimpered, although the kiss got even slower to the point their movements seemed like slow-motion even to normal human eyes. Len was pawing on Barry’s chest, logic mind no longer working as he pushed Barry down and straddled the speedster. His hands moved away to circle round Barry’s wrists. He brought the speedster’s hands up, pinning the wrists on top of Barry’s head, all the while smirking drunkenly. Barry laid pliant underneath Len, submitting to the thief’s whims with equally drunken smile on his face, eyes hazed with lustful adoration. 

They have completely forgotten that Savitar was there.

Savitar, on the other hand, was really too curious for his own good.

No, no, no. Don’t get him wrong! He was in no way a voyeur but he was naturally _curious_ when it comes to mating stuffs. He did all the researches during high school not because he was bored in between his conspiracy theory blog and investigating unexplainable cases. He was really interested in the way mating bonds work.

And he didn’t have much chance to do personal research on his own. He wasn’t the most desirable Alpha with his nerdy attitude before the lightning, and even after the lightning and the instant abs, his schedule was way too hectic to be in a proper relationship.

Hence, he wasn’t going to pass the chance for educational _observation_.

Textbook description said that bonded pair have heightened psychic senses and instincts regarding their partners in order to ensure the safety and comfort of the pair. Of course, for this situation to be true, the bonding needed to be done with mutual consent from both bonded parties, or otherwise it was going to be a form of slavery to the weaker gender of the pair. In such cases, the Alpha or Beta could still feel the heightened psychic senses to their partner, but they felt no obligation to please or comfort said partner.

To make it short, it was a cruel one-sided devotion.

Which intrigued Savitar’s curiousity because Barry was obviously unmarked—his scent was not yet mingled with Snart’s, signifying that it was a one-sided bond, but yet the original was behaving exactly like a real bonded pair. No Alpha would submit to an Omega like he did—letting Snart pinning him down while he was completely pliant to the thief’s mercy. No Alpha would permit this kind of power show, rut or heat influenced or not, this would never happen in normal pair—unless if they were bonded beforehand.

This was the first time Savitar witnessed one-sided bonding resulted in both parties wanted to please and comfort each other. It was unheard of, a rare impossible case—

—and it was happening right in front of him.

Savitar internally whined. Why must his life be even more trippy for each day that passed?

“You’re still hurt,” Barry’s soft grunt broke the magic, and Snart instantly stopped sucking on the frostbitten patches of skin on Barry’s torso.

Len blinked, seemingly dazed and confused as he took in the way he had one hand pinning both of Barry’s wrists onto the mattress while his other hand was planted flat on the speedster’s abs, fingers gently stroking the dark frostbitten skin. He blinked again, before a scowl made its way onto his face as he turned his head towards Savitar.

“Skip the basics. Explain _this_ ,” the thief looked ridiculously intimidating, even with red wet lips and debauched hooded eyes.

“Ah-uhm…,” Savitar scratched the back of his neck. He meant to start with basics so that it would easier to explain the heat cycle part to Snart. He wasn’t prepared for this. “That is normal? Since you are sort of still in your heat and you have been marked by an Alpha?” he posed his words like a question, only to flinch at Snart’s narrowed eyes. Clearing his throat, he added with a firmer voice. “It is normal for you to have the needs to touch each other, because that’s how the heat cycle works. You’re emitting mating pheromones, Snart…and most Alphas would instantly react to that,” he nodded at Barry’s questioning look, “especially the one that had mated with you,” he cringed as Barry flushed pink, the second-hand embarrassment was too much.

Len scowled. “There is no stopping it? Is it like period?”

Savitar blinked, second-hand embarrassment thrown out the window. “What’s period?”

“Never mind.”

Savitar wished that Snart wouldn’t dismiss his curiousity like that but didn’t dare to push his luck since the cold gun was in reaching range from the thief. Perhaps that was another difference between the current and the past universe? He had never heard of period before, unless if it was referring to time, which he was sure was not the case now.

To ask Barry seemed like a monumental task itself because the original was positively avoiding Savitar’s gaze now.

Hence, he pretended to let that slide and continued on, “…rriiiigghhhttt….so, uh, mutual marking is kinda equal to marriage, although you do need to officiate it at City Hall if you marked each other. Technicality purposes, and to ensure that there is no violation to anyone’s right,” Savitar cringed at the pair’s reaction, and had to wonder if they would end up marking each other, which would mean that he would have Captain Cold as sort of brother-in-law since he was publicly announced as Barry’s long lost twin brother.

Oh-oh. That was a horrifying thought.

And Joe would be super pissed.

Shivering in horror, he tried to avert his mind from the idea and continued on, “normally, when this situation arises, most people would get a week leave from their job or school until the effect of the heat passed,” he watched the look of disbelief on Snart’s and Barry’s face, and gave the pair a gentle smile. “You two have better control of yourselves than most, seeing that you haven’t kicked me out or ripped me apart yet.”

Snart’s smirk was positively malicious. “Tempting idea.”

“Len, NO,” Barry sighed and kissed his head, resulting for the thief to scowl before opting to sulk against Barry’s chest.

Yep. Definitely an impossible case. Savitar was sorely tempted to revise his old research now.

“You’re an Alpha too,” Barry murmured, eyes clearer now as they caught Savitar’s own. “Right? That was the reason I reacted violently before?”

No thanks to that reminder, Savitar suddenly felt the dull throbbing of his healing jaw.

“Yeah,” Savitar affirmed, hand absent-mindedly rubbed his broken jaw. He shook his head when Barry opened his mouth to apologize, lips curled to an assuring smile. “I’m not going to hold you to that. It was my fault for triggering your possessive side, I wasn’t supposed to challenge you while you’re with your mate. Alphas basics 101. Most fights didn’t even end as well or as quick as ours,” he grimaced and shuddered. “They drilled those rules into our brain for a good whole year. I should have known better.”

Barry looked sheepish and apologetic at Savitar’s words, although Snart was obviously not pleased.

“So you’re telling me that I won’t have any choice to resist whatever the hell this is?” Len scowled, gesturing to the way he was still scandalously straddling Barry. “I would be whipped to him?”

“It’s our natural instinct. Mated Omegas naturally craved for the comfort of their Alpha during heat while mated Alphas would feel obliged to please their partners. There is no way out, unless if you have years of training to build self-preservation, which neither of you have since you are new to this,” Savitar shrugged, opting to omit the fact about suppressants. 

Snart would try to acquire it, and no good would come from that. It would destroy one’s body, especially now that Snart was marked. He knew that Lisa had been persuading Caitlin to concoct an experimental suppressant for people like Snart, but even those only worked safely for unmarked and unmated Omegas. 

Wait—Caitlin.

Perhaps she could help Snart adapting to his Omega nature. Caitlin would know better, since she was so good in hiding her Alpha, she must have managed to sneak into Beta or Omega classes during sex-ed in school. She’s a researcher in the field too, so her knowledge was vast and accurate while Savitar’s knowledge on other genders was limited to his reading materials after all, and even that was doubtfully trustworthy considering that half of them was written by an Alpha.

Savitar could help Barry, but Snart—

Snart needed expert consultation.

He turned his attention back at the pair, only to raise an amused brow at the way Barry was holding a seething Snart, the original speedster was nuzzling and kissing the side of Snart’s jaw, murmuring something in soft hushed voice. The thief scowled at first, although he soon relaxed and slumped against Barry’s chest, low contented purr ripped from his throat as Barry’s vibrating hands slowly ran down his body. It didn’t take long for Snart’s eyes to be hooded with sleep, the exhaustion from today’s action finally catching up on him.

His soft kitten snores echoed in the room not long after.

Savitar smiled. He then disconnected the tablet from the projector and searched for the thesis he had read for his high school’s extra credits research. Along with the Alpha 101 guide. And the infamous _How to Build Love Nest_ book which he thought Barry needed if the original didn’t want frostbites every day. Plus, the official Omega law files he downloaded from the national attorney website. For safety measure, he copied all those e-books he downloaded on how to be a good Alpha (which were written by Omegas and Betas by the way, so they were very non-biased) and put them into the mix too. And of course, the sex-ed slides he had meticulously stolen from his teachers back in high school.

Savitar basically compiled a whole folder of APA-citation worth reading materials before thrusting the tablet to Barry.

Barry looked up from the slumbering thief on his lap when the tablet was thrusted into his view. He raised an eyebrow at the time remnant.

Savitar grinned.

“You might understand more if you read these. Call me if you have questions, my number is in there, saved under my new identity,” he said, before gesturing towards Snart. “I suggest you start building the nest while he is asleep. It ought to keep his mood happy throughout his whole cycle and that would mean the cold gun would be far, far away from your skin.”

Barry gratefully took the tablet, eyeing the list of PDF files the remnant had filed for his reading. He cracked a smile at his time remnant.

“Thank you,” he murmured, before his gaze fell on the bruise forming on the remnant’s jaw. “And sorry for breaking your jaw…”

Savitar shrugged. “Nahh…Not a problem. Call me if you need anything. I know from my readings that it would be hard for the rest of us to see you in upcoming week, or until Snart’s heat ended, whichever comes first, but do update us as frequent as possible, okay? So that we know he hasn’t turn you to ice statue?”

Barry chuckled humourlessly and gave his time remnant an affirming nod. “Sure.”

“And once he is out of his cycle, can you bring him to STARlabs? Or bring Caitlin here? Caitlin knows better about Omegas than me, she ought to be able to help Snart to adapt,” the time remnant rambled, brows furrowed in a frown. “I try to keep Joe and Iris off your back while you sort this out but you’re gonna need to tell them soon. It won’t be pretty—Caitlin said that you raped him? That is a major offense and Joe might be sorely tempted to throw you into prison himself…,” he paused when he saw Barry’s face paled and promptly added, “…but I don’t think he would?”

By the increasingly paling complexion of Barry’s face, Savitar didn’t think he was being convincing enough.

“If he did, I’ll break you out of prison myself,” he added without thinking.

That did it. Barry broke into genuine laughter, shoulder shaking as he sniggered. He gently laid Snart over the mattress and stood, hands straightening his crinkled shirt in the process.

Savitar almost bolted away, honestly expecting another punch. His luck wasn’t even that good, and to stand here when these two were still under the influence of heat pheromones was him pushing his luck too far. Barry would consider him as a threat and a punch was surely in the way—

Barry hugged him.

“Thank you,” the original murmured, hot breath fanned over Savitar’s oversensitive scar and Savitar couldn’t help but closed his eyes and returned the hug.

“Not a problem, brother.”

=====================================================================================

Barry sent off his time remnant with another hug, despite the bristling urge to pick a fight that stirred inside him.

He knew better now, after speed-reading through one of the thesis focusing on Alphas and knew which instinct to dull and kill to avoid the crime he committed last night. It was going to take him some time to adapt and learn, but his time remnant promised that he would be there to guide Barry, so that was a bit of relief on his side. There are also the possibilities of his memories of this timeline to return some time in the future, but knowing his luck, Barry didn’t rely on that hope much.

Hence, he spent the rest of the evening sprawled on the bed with Len using his body as a body pillow, speed-reading through all the thesis his time remnant had given to him. It was a mindful of information, too many differences to learn and adapt, that by midnight, Barry’s head was spinning with overload information. He gave up on finishing his reading, opting to cook and have a light snack (aka a feast that could fed a big family) before speeding through the entire house, memorizing the layout, checking each room (and phasing through walls for safety measure) just so he had something to do.

He hasn’t step into this house after he had officially inherited it after all.

And he didn’t think he could sleep tonight.

After all, he had his world been turned upside down in a blink of eye. 

Now he had a time remnant who was hiding under new identity that was based on his high school rebellious phase and was publicly announced as his long-lost twin brother. He was an Alpha, and it still made his stomach queasy at how vulnerable he could be to the temptation of heat and hormones, how little self-control he had now despite the excellent control his time remnant possessed. He had committed a heinous crime of this universe, taking advantage over a helpless Omega—

—and said Omega was Leonard Snart out of all people...

Man, what the heck had happened to his life?

Of course, the thing that struck him the most was the fact that he didn’t even thought about Iris until his time remnant mentioned her. And even that, he couldn’t recall the love he had for her before he changed the timeline. He remembered kissing her, he remembered years of pining over her, he remembered the ire he felt when she chose Eddie, he remembered her promise that she would be waiting for him regardless of the difference the situation would be after he change the timeline…

But he didn’t remember the feeling of loving her. Void. He didn’t feel anything now when he thought of her.

Though, he vaguely remembered bantering with Len. Exchanging cocky remarks, trading puns that were borderline cheesy and nauseatingly flirty. He remembered the envy when Heatwave popped out of nowhere and partnered with Len. He remembered feeling the anger when Len had betrayed him, but the anger was accompanied with disappointment and hopelessness of impossible alliance. He remembered the surge of anger he felt when Lisa came with a bomb lodged in her neck, the pain when Len softly apologized after Lewis shot him, the regret when he struggled against his own moral compass when Len killed Lewis as he was sorely tempted between taking Len to a safe place instead of letting the police took him.

Everything came like fleeting far-fetched memories. Memories that contradicted each other. His love for Iris versus his crush on Len. They didn’t fit in, making him feel like he was having someone else’s memories inside him.

Perhaps, the Barry in this timeline had moved on from Iris and now Barry was having that person’s memories.

Barry didn’t know whether he should feel grateful or horrified that he was deeply content with that idea.

He finally halted his speeding in front of a blank grey wall near Well’s—Eobard’s—bedroom. There was strange vibe emitting through the wall, something that reminded him of Gideon’s room at STARlabs. He placed his hands over the wall, feeling the strange yet familiar energy calling out for him. It was much like the embrace of a mother, the energy called out to him and he recognized the pull of speedforce wanting him to be home and comforted and he knew, he just _knew_ …

He phased through the wall.

And all of his worries, guilt and exhaustion were instantly being stripped away.

It was a small empty room, barely bigger than the bathroom in the room he left Len in. The walls were slate white, the floor was black marble but the room was leaking the energy of speedforce like the speedforce was right underneath it. There was a slim pedestal facing one of the walls. He smiled in recognition, walking slowly to stand in front of the pedestal. He placed his hand on top of the circular crystalized indent on the pedestal, his smile grew when blue glow scanned his palm and a familiar holographic head popped out.

“Hello, Father.”

Barry beamed at the smooth mechanical voice.

“Hello, Gideon,” he greeted back, staring at her in awe. This Gideon was more advanced than the one in STARlabs, he could tell from the way she seemed to smirk at him—something that strangely reminded him of Len’s cocky smirk—and she was more expressive, with voice that was much warmer and smoother than the one in STARlabs. “Not that I’m complaining Gideon, but why the change of name you use to call me?”

The AI tilted her floating head as if she was confused at his question. “You and Daddy programmed me to call both of you that,” she answered regardless, and Barry almost swore he heard childish confusion in her voice. “It is a special programming both of you chosen to include in me to differentiate between me and the industrial Gideons. I’m your personal family AI.”

Somehow that made senses. Barry didn’t dare to ask who Gideon’s Daddy was but he had a strong hunch.

The thought made him to quirk a smile.

“What are you doing in Thawne’s lair, then?” he asked, honestly confused of the reason Thawne had his personal family AI.

“Eobard Thawne wished to use me to destroy you through hurting your loved ones. Other Gideons are not aware of your family’s secret. I do. And he wished to use me,” Gideon explained, and Barry again detected the strong emotion—this time was vengeful anger—in her mechanical voice. “I didn’t help him, so he locked me in here until someone come to free me.”

Barry was about to thank her when she added;

“I would never betray my parents like that.”

Barry paused, his chest warmed up and he knew that sometime in the future, he created this Gideon with the intention of having her as a part of his family. The warmth brimmed inside his chest and he thought that he would’ve hugged Gideon right now if she wasn’t a holographic projection.

“Thank you, Giddy,” he croaked, not knowing from where the nickname came but liked the way it rolled naturally off his tongue regardless. “You’re a wonderful daughter,” he added without thinking, flushing slightly when he realized he just said that.

But Gideon’s holographic head practically beamed at him, making her bluish projection seemed like a futuristic impersonation of sunshine that was painfully similar to how people described Barry himself back when he wasn’t all angsty like this.

Did he created this Gideon while remembering those times?

Barry couldn’t help but quirked a small sad smile at that.

“Father?” Gideon seemed to pick up on his mood, her voice was laced with concern and worry. “Is there something I could do to help you?”

Well damn, she knew him too well to know that he was not okay and straight up offering her help.

“No, I’m okay,” he croaked, and when she narrowed her eyes at him—why the hell he looked so much like Len like that—he broke to a quiet laugh and smiled at her. “Really. I’m just overwhelmed. So many has changed…”

“Then you should rest, Father,” she piped in. “I would’ve prescribed you some sleeping pills but the drugs that would work on you would not be created until fifteen years from now.”

Barry shook his head. “Nah, couldn’t sleep anyway. I was planning to build a nest for Len…”

After being reminded by both Caitlin and his time remnant about the nest, he really thought he should start building it. The guide helped a lot to give him the vision of how he should build it, but he bet that Gideon would be more helpful. Smiling wider, he winked at her.

“Help me, Giddy?”

“Sure,” she chirped, sounding far too cheerful and happy to be a mere AI. She transformed to a full-body hologram, one hand rubbing her chin as she eyed the walls. “Daddy hates white walls. It reminds him of hospitals and deaths. He likes blue.”

Well, there went the confirmation of who her other ‘parent’ was.

Barry laughed, already noting that a paint job was in order. Perhaps a softer carpeting too before Barry could place the air mattress from STARlabs storage—there were too many of those mattress in the building anyway. He ought to look for soft blankets and cushion too since the e-book mentioned something that comfy blankets were a thing any Omega would appreciate. 

And Len did look so adorable earlier, huddled in blankets on the sofa.

Barry really loved the way Len seemed so comfortable in the blankets earlier.

Though, if he wanted to finish building the nest before Len woke up, Barry needed to super-speed everything, especially his shopping. The nearby Walmart open 24-hours and he ought to be able to get most of the things he needed there. He might need to do little breaking and shopping at other shops, especially to get proper carpeting and paint for the room and to do all of these as Barry Allen would be too slow.

Barry suddenly had a really horrible brilliant idea.

He was going to go shopping as the Flash.

“Be back in a flash,” he said with a wink towards Gideon, only to be amused when she rolled her eyes in fond exasperation at his pun.

Barry felt his heart went lighter as he raced out to retrieve some cash from his inheritance account, then to STARlabs where he speed-changed to his suit without waking Cisco up. He went to the closed stores first, phasing and shopping at local homeware shop where he took a bunch of different shades of blue paints and left a little note and some cash at the register. 

He left extra cash too, because he knew that the sweet couple who owned the store would be very helpful to him should he came in during normal opening hours.

After dumping the paint cans in the room, he raced to the edge of town, to the little carpet shop owned by a Pakistani man he saved during his first month of his superhero life. He almost scared the hell out of the man when he phased into the shop (and received a mouthful of foreign swearing) before the man calmed down and proceeded to help him chose the softest and prettiest carpet in the store. He politely declined the discount the man tried to offer to him and flashed away as soon as he dumped a more than necessary cash in the man’s arms.

Eobard was impossibly rich that Barry felt no guilt to spend the money like this.

He left the roll of carpets in the room, raising an amused brow at the little robots who now was slowly painting the white walls in gradients of blue. Turning around, Barry shot Gideon a questioning look.

He swore that the AI shrugged.

“My data included the progress and changes of this room throughout the years,” she said blankly, the corners of her holographic lips quirked to a little smirk.

Barry laughed, mouthed a simple ‘thank you’ to her and flashed out to his last shopping stop…

Walmart.

If the book he read was correct, he could find all sorts of Omega-related stuffs in one of the departments in the store. He flashed into the store, leaving trails of yellow lightning and shocked late-night shoppers in his wake as he sought for the department. He found said department in less than 10 seconds, only to be shocked and awed at the vast selection of comfort stuffs inside the department. There were aisles for soft blankets and pillows, few other aisles filled with cushions and beanie bags, few good rows of aisle filled with variety of comfort food along with rows of aisles of variety choices of movies.

Also, there was a particular section seemed to be dedicated to Omega’s heat needs and another section of….yep, the sex necessities aisles.

All out in open.

So many stuffs to be breezed through even as the Flash.

Barry was grateful he chose to do his shopping as his superhero alter-ego.

There was no way he could do this in normal human’s speed with zero knowledge on what to look for without spending days in here.

Barry was so busy gaping to notice that the late-night shoppers had crowded around him, phones out to record him as they murmured excitedly to one another. Yep, he didn’t think of that part. Guess there was no hiding it from the world now. He should be prepared for confrontations from his team and family soon since there was no way that this event won’t made it to the Internet.

Barry hoped that it wouldn’t go viral any time soon.

One of the shop assistants finally walked up to him, hands clasped in front of her thighs as she spoke shyly, “Mr. Flash? Is there any problem? Should we scram to safety?” 

Barry ducked his head sheepishly and shook his head. “No, no, no…everything’s fine. I’m here just for late night shopping…for my mate….,” he said, vocal cord vibrated to mask his voice as he praised Cisco’s brilliance to go for a cowl instead of simple mask because he was definitely blushing red right now.

The shop assistant looked like she almost fainted upon his words. “You’re mated?” the words came out in soft whispers.

Did he just break the poor girl’s heart?

“Yeah,” Barry shrugged, pitying the look of disappointment on the girl’s face at the reveal of his mated status. “Mind giving me pointers on what to look for?”

The girl suddenly shifted her mood. She beamed at him and said cheerfully, “sure, anything for Central City’s hero!”

Barry really hoped that he didn’t break the Internet with this…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to see Gideon in android form? Lol
> 
> Anyway, I don't think my story is slow-paced, but my friend mentioned that it didn't go as fast as she expected, so IDK...Do you like this kind of pace? Let me know.
> 
> So, it is clear Savitar had a self-love issue, Iris may or may not pose trouble to Barry-Len sort of marriage and with video of the Flash shopping for his mate went viral, a confrontation is scheduled very soon. Expect heated confrontation soon. And also Glider's rage. Also, I notice that I didn't write from Barry's POV much, so next chapter we might be able to see his POV.
> 
> And I see that most of you is in love with Savitar. I know. I love him too. More than I love Barry. (Totally not biased--lol, that's a lie, I'm totally biased.)
> 
> Kudos, comments and bookmarks are highly appreciated. Thank you very much, and till the next update!


	5. INTERMISSION! (NOT AN ACTUAL UPDATE)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little snippets of the collective reactions to the Flash's little shopping endevour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL UPDATE. I was procrastinating on my studies by writing the next chapter and noticed that the reactions alone is so long. So, I posted the reactions first. 
> 
> The actual update with plot-moving element will be uploaded on this Saturday or Sunday of my time.
> 
> As per usual, this is un-betaed and I was literally writing this instead of sleeping. Please fogive any errors.
> 
> There might be some spoilers or foreshadowing, if you squint real tight. ;)

***SAVITAR***

Savitar woke up to a shrill ringing that blared loud enough to hurt his eardrums.

He rolled over the soft bed, burrowing his head underneath the fluffy pillow and pressed the pillow over his head to block the shrill noise. His jaw still throbbed in phantom pain despite being fully healed—something that happened far more often to his liking—and it was rare for him to not worry about work as CSI Barry Allen or the Flash, so he very much would like to laze around on bed today.

Speaking of which, since when did his pillow smelled like artificial strawberries?

The shrill ringing died down and he exhaled a breath of relief, promptly closing his eyes, nuzzling against the strawberry-scented bedsheets with the intention of falling back to sleep….only to jerk up in surprise when his phone rang again, impossibly loud and shrill. Groaning out loud, he blindly groped for his phone on the nightstand, voice grumpy as he answered the call.

“E’llo?”

“Whoa, Sebastian, dude, did I wake you up?”

It took Savitar approximately 12 seconds to recognize the voice and realized that the person on the other line was someone from his recently out-of-the-grave past.

“Jeff?” He blurted out, accidentally pushing the loudspeaker button, the pillow toppled off his head as he jerked abruptly to sit.

“Yo, man.”

“How did you—?”

“Facebook,” Jeff answered simply. “Took us years to track you down though. You went out of radar right after graduation," he huffed, “I know that you did stupid shit back then and we didn’t part on pleasant terms but you don’t have to avoid us, you know?” there was a hint of accusation in Jeff’s voice but Savitar was too busy reviewing his own memories, wondering when the hell he created a Facebook account under his new alias. 

He had deleted his fake life’s account once he graduated high school, cutting off his ties and two-years history in the preppy private school with the deletion of said account. 

And Sebastian Allen didn’t exactly exist until last week.

So, _how_?

Then he remembered _who_ had created his alias and promptly banged his head to the pillow.

Of course Felicity Smoak would create a Facebook account for his new alias. 

“Sorry about your accident, man,” Jeff kept babbling in his ears, “But good thing did come out of it, no? You found your twin brother—what’s his name? Bartholomew? Man, you guys have old men names! A bit of a shock to us though, since, we don’t know that you have such tragic past,” he barked out a humourless laugh,“…kinda make sense though, why you such an asshole back then…”

Savitar gaped.

What exactly had Felicity broadcasted as his history? 

“And we’re very sorry for your loss…”

“Jeff,” he interjected to stop his friend when Jeff touched the issue of Henry’s death. Just because Savitar was from another timeline, didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt him to think about Henry’s death. “Why exactly you call me at this ungodly hour?”

He barely realized that his tone was downright rude and grouchy, still tensed from the hurt of being reminded of his father’s death. But, before he could apologize, Jeff laughed merrily.

“There’s the Sebastian that I know,” he hummed, seemingly pleased with himself. “Glad to know that you’re…well, _you_ …after those two years of coma…,” he exhaled deeply. “Is your health okay?”

It was a minute of silence when Savitar stared at his phone in surprise.

“Jeff…,” Savitar started, voice tainted with disbelief. “…are you checking up on me?”

“Well, we are friends, aren’t we?” Jeff sounded sincere, and Savitar couldn’t stop the little tug of smile on his lips. “Even though you are kinda an ass for cutting us off like that…”

“Jeff…,” Savitar trailed, not knowing how to explain when he barely knew what lies Felicity had fabricated to make his sudden existence believable. “Things are complicated…after graduation…”

“Yeah, I heard,” Jeff sounded solemn, and Savitar was terrified of what kind of drama Felicity had fabricated and broadcasted for him. Lucky for him, Jeff promptly dropped the topic. “Anywayyy, glad to know that you’re okay, man. With all the crazies in Central, if you ever want to talk with someone normal, I’m right here. Feel free to call.”

Savitar found himself to crack a genuine smile. “Sure,” he laughed a bit at the way his fake life was giving him life now. Oh, the irony. “Thanks, Jeff.”

“No biggie,” Jeff said cheerfully, before his tone shifted to a more curious tone. “By the way, does the Flash really shop at Walmart?”

Savitar dropped his phone.

“HE WHAT NOW?!”

 

=====================================================================================

 

***CAITLIN***

Caitlin closed the door gently behind her, a little smile on her face.

She was woken up early and in an incredibly good mood this morning to the sound of birds chirping and the cool morning breeze that contrasted the warm body draped over her. Savitar was incredibly warm, and although she was aware of that fact, being his doctor and all, but it still awed her in the most pleasant way possible.

He was also a cuddler and smelled temptingly irresistible, which practically did nothing to help Caitlin’s melting heart.

Hence, she left the bed and went for ice cold shower at five in the morning because she has such a perfect control over her instinct and she wouldn’t take advantage on him when he had trusted her and be comfortable around her enough to crash in the same bed as hers for the night.

The fact that she was seething and almost went homicidal because Savitar feared to go back to the West’s without Barry with him has nothing to do with her prompt invitation of sleepover in her apartment.

Nope. Nuh-uh. She was being a courteous friend, that’s all, since Cisco still treated him like an alien or some sort of stranger for him to be comfortable at STARlabs. No other reason. Nothing remotely related to her sudden homicidal urge.

Anywaaaayyy, it made her happier to see the genuine smile that graced his face.

Barry must have had wonderful friends back when he was in private school if one of them managed to track Savitar literally a week after Felicity created the account Sebastian Smythe-Allen for Savitar’s new alias. Of course Felicity had altered the account a bit, making it appear that it has existed for around two years to match their story. 

The story they fabricated to explain the time remnant’s existence—of which Barry and Savitar met during the particle accelerator explosion, and Barry managed to force Savitar to create that account before they parted ways and become the explosion’s casualties.

Felicity was able to alter the list of casualties in the local newspaper record, including Savitar as a victim of wildfire that erupted after the explosion into the record and made the lies more believable. It was a risky background story, but it was the best they could come up with in such short notice. Regardless, people who have seen Savitar and Barry together during past few days had accepted the story without any argument.

It amused Caitlin to no end that the barista at Jitters practically cooed and patted both Barry’s and Savitar’s head while expressing how sorry she was over their horrible luck once Cisco explained Savitar’s sudden presence in Barry’s little nerd gang.

If only Barry didn’t mess up, they would have a wonderful friendship by now—all four of them (or five whenever Felicity was in town)—the cool nerd squad.

Savitar’s explanation last night seemed plausible, but Caitlin really found it hard to believe that Barry just changed the dynamic of their WHOLE universe. How is that even possible? How powerful the Flash’s power really is?

Is it really safe to let Barry running around with that kind of power?

Caitlin sighed and turned the burner off after flipping the last pancake onto the tower that was already stacked on her little dining table. She let her hair down, planning to check on Savitar again when she heard him yelled.

“HE WHAT NOW?!”

Caitlin barely had the time to blink when the familiar gust of wind blew her hair off her face and he was suddenly there, hair mussed (adorably) from sleep, still in the black tight-fitting shirt and grey STARlab sweatpants he wore to bed last night as he switched on her television, flicking through the channel with impressive speed.

He stopped at the morning talk show on the city’s gossip channel.

Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

She didn’t know that Barry watched morning gossip talk show.

Well, the more you know—

“Hello everyone, I’m Serena of Gossip Girl show. We’re sorry to interrupt today’s scheduled topic with the hottest gossip in Central City. Late-night shoppers at our very own Walmart were shocked last night when our hero, the Flash, well, for the lack of better term, _flashed_ by to shop…,” the host paused, swiveling on her chair to motion at the screen behind her where an amateurish video of Flash in Walmart been played. Serena grinned and continued, “…for his mate,” she giggled as the video ended. 

Caitlin’s eyes widened.

“Yes, Central City’s singles and taken, woe on our poor hearts! Our dearest hero is mated,” the host exclaimed dramatically, mocking a mournful sob. “Who is the lucky person that have stolen his golden heart? Is it an Omega or a Beta? Or does the Flash goes for someone as strong him, perhaps another Alpha? What do you think, Blair?”

“I don’t know, Serena…to steal the Flash’s heart, you must be one hell of a thief,” Blair, the second host, hummed, finger tapping her chin.

“Captain Cold then? We all know how much Captain Cold throve to get the Flash’s attention.” Serena pondered out loud before smiling giddily. “For a criminal, Cold has such adorable ways to express his crush,” she giggled.

“Awwhh, don’t break my heart, Serena. Flash has already stomped on my poor heart, I don’t want Cold to be unavailable too,” Blair mocked a wounded expression, although she bounced back to her excited mode the next second. “But the biggest question is, will the Flash mate with his own enemy?”

“Who knows? But personally, I am hoping it is the Green Arrow,” Serena grinned madly. “Imagine! Central City’s hero and Starling City’s vigilante! Rumours had it that they have been seen patrolling and working together in both cities. Now we know that it’s a date night!”

Caitlin’s jaw dropped.

Savitar flinched and promptly switched off the TV as if he was just been traumatized for life.

“Oliver is going to shoot me,” he breathed, completely horrified. “Repeatedly. Until I die. And then he will resurrect me so that he could kill me again.”

Caitlin was snapped out of her shock right that instant. She laughed and reached a hand to rub Savitar’s tensed back. “You do realise that you’re not the Flash anymore right?” she reminded him. 

Savitar visibly deflated as he relaxed. “Never thought that I would ever be happy to hear that.”

Caitlin laughed as his tensed shoulder grew lax against her palm. Her heart then traitorously skipped a few beats when he tilted his head to give her a lazy sleepy smile, his hair still (adorably) sticking in every direction possible, mismatched eyes relaxed and lacking the awkward angsty look he had since he woke up from his mini-coma. 

He looked… _happier._

Averting her gaze, Caitlin pretended to look over his shoulder. “Should we warn Barry?” she asked, just for something to talk about.

“Of what? Oliver?”

“And every other friend of ours who would—”

She halted when she noticed that his face had paled unnaturally, his jaw slacked in horror.

“What?!” She urged, hands tightening round the hard flesh of his bicep.

“Iris,” Savitar breathed, far more horrified than he was before.

Caitlin tilted her head to the side, slightly confused. “What about her?”

“She works for CCPN. And she didn’t get the first scoop about this. She is going to kill Barry.”

Caitlin blinked, the corners of her lips tugged to an evil smile. “Then, you better be prepared to save Barry by stopping Iris on a warpath,” she hummed, giving him the sweetest smile she could muster.

“I’m not THAT suicidal!”

Caitlin grinned.

“Then Barry is on his own~” mischief and evil twinkled in her eyes as she tugged Savitar to the dining table. “Now, breakfast?”

Savitar promptly swore that he would NEVER cross any females of ANY genders for the rest of his life.

 

===================================================================================== 

 

***CISCO***

Cisco loved slow morning.

No crazy meta attacks, no robberies, no kidnapping, no psychos on the loose.

In short, it was a perfect morning.

Plus, Barry’s time remnant was not in his usual bunk too, so Cisco wouldn’t be stuck with awkward morning coffees or uncomfortable conversation with the man. 

It’s not like he didn’t like the time remnant, but it is a bit…awkward…to put it simply. It was probably due to the fact that Cisco constantly felt edgy around other Alphas after he started dating Lisa (she was really possessive). Plus, the incredibly tempting scent of strong powerful Alpha the time remnant emitted made him to keep a distance from him. He usually didn’t have this problem with Barry, but apparently whatever energy from Zoom’s multiverse cannon had affected the time remnant beyond his physical injuries. Cisco assumed that the particles from the cannon worked like the dark matter particle, altering the time remnant’s system and made him this literal walking pheromone.

A real-life sex on a stick.

Get it? Because Barry is so skinny like a stick? And now the time remnant was emitting sex pheromones like he was on rut 24/7? Sex on stick? Get it? No? Never mind.

How the hell Caitlin was able to resist from pouncing on that man was still a mystery.

Even Iris kept a distance, and she was one of the Omegas whom Cisco knew possessed insanely strong self-control.

Only Alphas like Oliver and Thea, and old Betas like Joe and Diggle, didn’t have any reaction to the time remnant’s pheromone assault.

Or so Cisco speculated.

Caitlin’s tests didn’t mention any of that, though. Everything was normal and the same as Barry’s old results. Cisco was simply making educated speculation based on the evidences he could observe. 

Regardless, they did act a little bit on edge around the time remnant. They, as in Team Flash with exception of the Flash himself. Cisco sort of feel bad for Barry. Barry had been clinging to his time remnant for dear life ever since they found the guy unconscious while cleaning up after Zoom’s mess. Barry had been staying over at STARlabs to wait for his time remnant to wake up, called up Felicity to help fabricating background story for the remnant and was all out when he tried to incorporate the time remnant in his daily life as his twin brother.

It was almost cute, how Barry clung to the idea of family and seemed so relieved that he was no longer the only Allen on Earth. 

However, the team didn’t share his enthusiasm. Joe was skirting between the line of I’m-grateful-you-save-our-lives and you-better-not-trying-to-hurt-my-boy to not act so tensed and suspicious of the remnant. Wally, on the other hand, was a supporter of Joe’s theory that the time remnant would one day kill the real Barry so that he could claim Barry’s identity. Iris probably kept her distance because of the pheromone assaults, even though she did flat out express her opinion on how ridiculous Joe’s theory was. 

Their reaction might have seemed a bit cruel to the guy who had saved their life (and multiverse), but there was nothing that could be done.

Plus, none of them know how to act around the time remnant, still weirded out at the idea of two Barry Allen walking among them. It wasn’t like the Earth-2 doppelgangers, because _Sebastian_ was literally their Barry.

Only from a different timeline.

Yeah, this was too trippy for seven a.m. thoughts.

Determined to have an easy, relaxing morning, Cisco brought his mug to the couch in the living area he now shared with the time remnant.

(It’s not like he didn’t have his own place, but someone need to be on-duty watching over meta-attacks and Cisco liked it here because it smelled really nice—totally not related to Sebastian though.)

He promptly curled on the couch, sipping his coffee slowly.

There was no message from Lisa, and Cisco ought to be worried since his Alpha didn’t sound very good the last time he called her. But, he knew that she was a strong gal and he shouldn’t be worried too much. He probably shouldn’t be in her way though, not after Snart and Barry suddenly dropped out of radar since the last robbery, because he has a strong hunch that Lisa was very angry and steaming on a warpath now.

Because if there was any competition in gaining Lisa Snart’s attention and affection, Cisco’s main competitor was his (hopefully) future brother-in-law.

God knows how much Cisco envied Snart because Lisa was all over that thief ever since he returned from his supposed death.

Not that they were in an incest relationship or whatever, but Lisa prioritized her brother over her sex life. Hence, Cisco fell to the second place.

Pouting at the idea, Cisco tapped on Tumblr icon on his tablet, planning to spend the whole day moping and judging the most current gossip until some asshole meta decided to attack and ruin everyone’s day. Really, celebrities were idiots, and people actually spend some time to stalk and follow mundane stories about famous people….like this current trending hashtag—#FlashMate—which probably about some jackass actor jumping from one mate to another mate in speed that could give the Flash a run for his power.

But serious talk, tho…FlashMate?

The hell kinda name was that?

“This is why you leave the naming to the pro…,” Cisco shook his head and tapped on the tag, wanting to see what’s the hype was all about.

He was taken straight to a video, but since the video kept crashing (really, this 20 seconds video broke the Internet?), Cisco scrolled down to the read the conversations of people who had been reblogging since this video been up last night.

_**supersonichedgehog :** I bet it’s a female Alpha! He won’t settle for a weak Omega!_  
_**smells-like-cool-nerds :** You clearly have never met lots of Omega. Some of them are hella scary and strong._  
_**cra-zy-vib-es :** Hell yeah. Omegas could be strong and powerful too._  
_**omegacumdaddy :** Meh, Omegas are weaklings. They were only good to fuck and bear pups._  
_**cockblockersociety :** Calling out all decent human beings out there to report the bastard above._  
_**stop-thawing-icetalavista-babies :** Reported._  
_**boomboomsparkybangbang :** Consider it done. Tumblr has no place for close-minded bastard like you. We live in 2017, not 1917._  


Cisco promptly reported that account before continuing his reading.

_**aliensatemylife :** I don’t think he would go for an Alpha, though…He can’t be gay._  
_**imdaheat-burnyoass :** Hey, we don’t know about that._  
_**fuckmewithaspoontwicedaily :** I’m inclining to believe that he is at least bisexual._  
_**flarrow-paradise :** YOoooo MAH FLARROW SHIPPERS WHERE THE HELL ARE THOU?_  
_**sleigh-the-ass :** COLDFLASH ARMY IS HERE. BACK OFF, FLARROWERS!_

Cisco stopped reading at the last two comments, because the long rude conversation afterwards was a confirmation to his loss of faith in humanity and he didn’t need that at 7 o’clock in the morning. He frowned at the ship names (yes, he knew those were ship names, he lived in an abandoned lab, not under a rock) and couldn’t help but wonder what the heck Barry had done to go this viral.

Really, judging by the number of reblogs, Cisco wouldn’t put past it that this particular post has already reached the opposite part of the world. Some of the comments were even in oriental and cutesy anime emojis. It has gone worldwide.

“Barry, what had you done?” He pondered out loud, not really expecting an answer.

Fortunately, his question was answered the next second as the video finally loaded;

 _“Mr. Flash? Is there any problem? Should we scram to safety?”_ A girl asked, and Cisco couldn’t help but wonder if there was a meta attack last night that he wasn’t aware of.

 _“No, no, no…everything’s fine.”_ There came Barry’s voice as the Flash in the video ducked his head in a way that Cisco knew too well as embarrassment. Cisco frowned, wondering what the hell had made his friend so embarrassed. _“I’m here just for late night shopping…,”_ Cisco sipped on his coffee, just vaguely amused that Barry had actually went shopping as the Flash. He must be out of grocery and need to shop real quick.

Though, the next thing he heard was not something that he expected.

_“..for my mate….”_

Cisco’s jaw slacked open, causing the coffee he was drinking to fall like dark scorching hot waterfall onto his lap.

What. The. Hell.

Oh, he was so going to revoke Barry’s friendship card now.

 

===================================================================================== 

 

***TEAM ARROW***

Oliver knew something was up when Felicity started acting weird.

By weird, he meant obnoxiously giggling and giving him perverted looks that has nothing to do with his well-defined physique.

For once, Felicity wasn’t fazed with his salmon ladder routine but instead more focused with exchanging hushed whispers to her earpiece. She giggled and squealed as she whispered to her earpiece, once in a while shooting Oliver a knowing look that made Oliver felt oddly naked under her gaze. Shrugging that feeling, Oliver reached for his bow, planning to do some target practice when Felicity switched off her earpiece and stared at him with an intense gaze.

Oliver felt cold sweat dampened his lower back.

“Felicity?”

“You know that I’m not mad, right?”

He was taken aback with that, eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he stared at her in confusion. “Of what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Oliver. I know that you’re a hard man to please and I might not be enough—”

Oliver just barely able to stop himself from dropping his bow. Just _barely_.

“—plus, I like him too. He’s cute and I’m not surprised that you like him enough to mate with him. Though I do wish that you actually talk to me about it first before you mate with him, cuz we’re like, couple, right now….”

Oliver raised a hand to stop her rambling, his Alpha stirred in jealousy. “Wait, what? Who the hell is he?”

Really, his possessive Alpha side did not need this kind of awakening this early in the morning. Felicity was his. He ain’t sharing her with anyone, whoever this guy was.

Felicity jutted her lips in a little pout. “Barry, _duh_.”

Oliver frowned. “What about Barry?”

He was shocked when Felicity sighed and threw her arms to the air in exasperated manner. She rolled her eyes and stared at him with that exasperated ‘you’re an adorable dummy’ look.

“Really, Oliver?”

_“What?”_

Their conversation was cut short when Diggle stormed into their hideout, tabloid newspaper in his hand as he stalked towards Oliver like an angry hurricane. Thea was close on his heels, though his sister was grinning in that mischievous way that made his skin crawl and his survival instinct went on full alert. Diggle stepped in front of Oliver and thrust the newspaper into his face. 

Oliver held back the needs to sneeze.

“Really, Oliver? I thought we’re friends!” Diggle exclaimed, loud and hurt. “No wonder you’re willing to help him without so much of persuasion. Even when he is going against a psychopath immortal. I wonder why you are willing to help him with his weirdass meta problems despite that being out of your comfort zone. _‘He’s a good kid’_ , ha! I should have known. Especially after you prepare a mannequin for him here!” he ranted angrily, thrusting the newspaper closer to Oliver’s face, making it hard for Oliver to read the writing. “Seriously, Oliver? Triad mating is a thing. You don’t have to hide him for us. We like the kid, even though his power is freaky.”

“And I’m all in to have both a cute brother-in-law and an adorable sister in-law!” Thea chirped, high-fiving with Felicity. “You don’t have to hide anything from us.”

Oliver stared at his team like they all have went nuts.

Which might be the case right now because what the actual fuck?

Did Central City’s crazy made it 600 miles over to Starling City?

He jerked back a bit so that he could read the newspaper that was thrusted into his nose. His gaze skimmed the big title, face turning to unhealthy deathly pale at each word.

_**FLASH & ARROW! THE NEW HERO COUPLE!** _

_Last night, Central City’s Walmart received a special visit from their resident hero, the Flash, who dropped by to shop for his mate. Sources said that he spent a complete hour, in his inhuman speed, shopping for his mate. What a romantic man! And we couldn’t help but wonder who is this mysterious mate? Fans throughout the nation had voiced out their opinions, but we think we know who this mysterious mate is._

_After all, both Central City and Starling City are very familiar with the Flash and Green Arrow’s team up. Now that Flash’s relationship status has come to light, there is a big question to be answered. Is the team up being just a ‘team up’ or are these two heroes secretly enjoying their date night saving each other’s cities? Sources reported…._

Oliver didn’t dare to continue reading.

Tabloid reporters and their imagination….

But honestly? Did Barry really went shopping at Walmart while in costume?

Oliver closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, promptly ignoring Diggle’s voice.

“Told ya, you don’t have to hide anything. We like the kid, Oliver.”

Oliver’s hand tightened around his bow.

“And I’m not jealous,” Felicity chirped, swiveling in her chair. “I’m perfectly okay with triad mating.”

Oliver took in a deep breath. “It’s not me.” He gritted out through clenched teeth.

And promptly shot an arrow through the mannequin they prepared for Barry before storming out.

The rest of team Arrow stared at his retreating back, wondering what the hell was going on. Oliver was gone by the time Felicity snapped out of her surprise to call out to him;

“Wait, does that mean I’m not getting my threesome??”

 

=====================================================================================

 

***IRIS***

Iris was walking towards her cubicle, steaming mug of coffee in her hand when Linda stopped her in her track.

“Iris~” the spunky reporter greeted her, dancing around the steaming mug to give Iris a loose hug. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you.”

“Um, thanks?” Iris smiled awkwardly, balancing her mug in one hand while the other patted Linda’s back. “Do I get a promotion that I don’t know about or what?”

Linda released her and smiled coyly at Iris. “Oh, hush you,” she waggled her index finger playfully. “Literally the world has already known. No need to play clueless with me. I’m happy for you.”

Iris stared at her colleague, completely bewildered.

“Know _what_ , exactly?”

“That your _speedy_ mate is so sweet that he spent a complete hour speeding in Walmart Omega’s department for you in his full…uh… _working_ gear,” Linda giggled, tugging Iris to the more secluded area of their shared cubicle. “You lucky gal, not many Alphas wanted to do that!”

Iris’ brows shot up to her hairline in complete confusion.

“Are you talking about,” she started, before casting a quick look around them and promptly lowering her voice to hushed whisper, “ _Barry?_ ”

Linda rolled her eyes. “Yes, Barry,” she whispered back, “my ex-boyfriend, the Flash, your mate?”

Iris blinked. “My what now?”

“Your mate?” Linda repeated, though this time she sounded a bit unsure of herself. “It’s you, right? His mate?”

Iris wondered if she has accidentally stepped into another Earth.

Regardless, she smiled and shook her head. “I’m not mated, Linda. And I don’t plan to be mated, not until I’m able to heal after Eddie.”

Linda’s eyes immediately widened to the size of saucers, her mouth slacked open as she gaped in disbelief. “If it’s not you, then _who_?” she half-shrieked though her voice was thankfully still in the volume of soft whispers. “Who is his mate?”

Iris frowned. “Barry’s mate?” she laughed, “Linda, Barry isn’t mated. Maybe he has a new partner he hasn’t told me about, but he would have told me if he planned to mark and mate with someone. I’m his sister. Sister’s approval is important.”

Linda was stunned in silence for a full minute before she breathed in awe. “You don’t know.”

Iris frowned.

Linda started giggling. “Oh, this is way too good. You don’t know. You really don’t know,” her giggles turned to manic cackle. “Ohhhhhh…. Barry, you’re soooo dead!”

Iris was about to ask for explanation when her editor came storming towards her, steam figuratively rising from his ears. “WEST!” he yelled, causing the young apprentice that was photocopying next to his path jumped a bit.

“Yes, sir!” Iris responded automatically, heart racing at the sudden intensity of her editor’s gaze.

“I want you to get better scoop on the Flash’s mate. You’re his favourite reporter. Ask, beg, plead him even for exclusive interview of his mate. We can’t lose to our competitors!”

He slammed the file in his hand onto Iris’s desk and stormed away, still fuming above all.

Iris gaped, moving almost mechanically as she opened the file and read the printed posts from Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google plus, private blogs—all of which were talking about the Flash’s little shopping endevour at Walmart for his mate. Iris’ eyes grew wider for each sheet of paper she skimmed through, mind numb with the shock, though she was snapped out of her shock when Linda slid a tablet towards her, the infamous 20 seconds viral video was playing on the screen.

Oh.

_Oh._

Iris didn’t realise that she clutched the pencil in her hand so hard that it snapped into half.

“That little shit…,” she growled low in her throat. “How dare he!”

Linda cackled. “If I wear bright red dress on his funeral, will you mind?”

“Sew Flash symbols on the dress and then we have a deal,” Iris huffed, fingers already dialing the ever familiar number on her phone.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

He didn’t pick up her call.

Iris waited two minutes before dialing again.

And again, Barry didn’t pick up her call.

Last time. Third time is charm, right? For safety measure, Iris waited five minutes before dialing his number again.

She was greeted with the generic female voice telling her that his phone was switched off.

Linda grinned maniacally as Iris’ face shifted to dark murderous expression.

Oh, Barry was soooo dead.

 

===================================================================================== 

 

***EXTRA!***

Barry never thought that out of the things in the world, the thing that would rot his teeth with cavities was Leonard Snart.

Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold, who was now curled up in the nest Barry had managed to finish building literally five minutes before the man woke up.

Barry honestly couldn’t stop smiling.

Soft blankets and pillows were indeed something that no Omega would ever be able to resist, Captain Cold or not.

“Barry,” Len called out to him, softly and tentatively, as if he was unsure—

—and Barry’s heart fluttered, his Alpha nudged him to tread across the soft carpeting and climbed up the air mattress where Len, or rather, the huge ball of blankets with Len’s head and some hands poking out, was seated. The thief was holding an oversized mug of hot cocoa—and Barry made sure that he remembered to put lots of mini marshmallows in it, just like the way Len loved it—and Len’s cheeks slightly flushed in embarrassment.

It was teeth-rottingly cute.

“It’s okay, Lenny,” Barry purred, words falling out of his mouth without his mind thinking of it. “This is your nest. There is no Flash and Captain Cold here. No hero and thief-slash-time-travelling-hero. It’s just you and me, Barry and Lenny,” he soothed, finding that he meant those words as he walked closer to the bed, stopping right at the edge of the mattress.

He waited for Len’s permission to climb up the bed.

“Then get your ass up here and do your responsibility as my Alpha,” Len grumbled, trying to sound grouchy, to find Cold’s voice but there was no bite in his tone as he was barely able to stop himself from whining. 

He didn’t like the way being in this room, with safety and comfort been emitted from every inch of these four walls, had made him to fall into his deepest instinct. He couldn’t resist the idea of curling in Barry’s arms, or the prospect of making out lazily with the speedster, without any care for the outside world, just enjoying the afterglow of their mating while waiting for his heat to completely simmered down. He didn’t like this feeling of vulnerability this room allowed him to feel.

But it was so irresistible. Len has never felt so safe.

And when Barry obliged his request, the younger man literally lifted the ball of blankets he was bundled in so that he could sit on Barry’s lap, he found he didn’t mind being in this kind of predicament at all.

Len twisted in his blankets, wriggling and shifting until he found the most comfortable position with his head tucked between Barry’s chin and chest, Barry’s arm radiated warmth even against the layers of blanket, so warm and comfortable that Len’s eyes fluttered close as he sipped on his hot cocoa. Barry’s other arm came up to wrap across the layers of blankets covering his chest and Len tilted his head, planting soft kiss on Barry’s throat. Barry grunted and dropped some kisses onto his head.

They would have stayed like that, content and happy if only Barry’s phone didn’t ring and won the award of the worst cockblocker in history.

Len pouted. Flash’s business, no doubt. Barry was going to leave him here.

Thus, it shocked him when Barry took out the phone from his pocket with minimum wriggling and shoved it under the cushion, muffling the shrill ringing. Len rolled his eyes upward, trying to catch Barry’s gaze.

“Why?” His voice was soft, but the curiousity was evident.

“Not important.”

“The world might need the Flash out there.”

“And Bas is more than capable to wear my suit and save the world,” Barry hummed, exhaling a breath of relief when the ringing died down. “I have someone to take over my responsibility out there. But _you_ ,” he punctuated his words with a soft kiss on the tip of Len’s nose. “You are my sole responsibility. No one else's.”

Len didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to smile and express how happy he was with Barry’s words and affection. He was Captain Cold. Captain Cold didn’t do touchy-feely stuffs. 

But there was no Captain Cold within these four walls. He was Len. And Len was so happy to hear _his_ Alpha, the Flash, Central City's hero, chose _him_ over the world.

Thus, he gave the most blinding smile one could ever see and leant up to peck Barry on the lips.

The small peck turned to soft languid chaste kiss by the time the muffled ring of the phone erupted again. Barry pulled away, groaning in distaste as he glared at the cushion the phone was stuffed under. He alternated his gaze between Len and the phone, as if he didn’t know whether he should continue kissing Len or threw the phone across the wall. The decision was made for him when the ringing died down and Barry moved in superspeed, the phone was placed on the night stand with its battery placed beside it. Barry then stared at Len, eyes longing and needy that Len found himself to place his mug on the nightstand, right next to the offending phone, before he wrenched Barry by the collar of his shirt, pulling the speedster down for a wild kiss.

And boy, was his breath been taken away in record speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I neither confirm nor deny Cisco's speculation about Savitar.
> 
> Secondly, who among you notice Glee's reference in this one?


	6. "I do have a switch off button, you know?" - Gideon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry faced Glider's wrath. Also, Gideon is so done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picked off from Chapter 4 and happens BEFORE the whole intermission chapter thing, just to be clear.
> 
> Here comes the long-awaited ~~Barry POV~~ Glider's wrath. I'm happy that you enjoyed last chapter, and it seemed some of you doesn't really like the treatment Savitar/Bas received. I'm planning to imagine how the Savitar in the show turned evil, so it might seem too harsh on him but I swear, I love him! Don't worry, his story is a sub-plot for Baby Steps because he is a vital character for both Len and Barry. So be patient and don't kill team Flash yet!
> 
> Warning to a slightly gruesome (just slightly!) of injury because we all know how Glider's gun is far more toxic and dangerous than Cold's. A little bit Barry-Gideon bonding and some hints ~~and foreshadowing~~ of both their past and future.
> 
> As per usual, my anti-socialism struck me again and I couldn't find anyone to beta-read this. Un-betaed, so please forgive any errors.
> 
> Happy reading~!

Leonard Snart is a burrower.

Barry shouldn’t even be surprised. Of course Leonard Snart is a burrower. Why was Barry so surprised? Ugh.

But Barry couldn’t stop the rise of his brows or the widening of his eyes when he returned from his shopping trip and went up to the bedroom to check up on Len, only to be greeted with the sight of the thief being bundled up and burrowed in the layers of blankets and comforter on the bed. Only the top of Len’s head was visible, his lashes brushed up the edge of his blanket cocoon, his toes peeked out at the other end of the cocoon as he slept soundly.

Barry felt a smile tugged the corner of his lips.

It was too cute of a sight for 2 o’clock in the morning.

Barry would’ve lingered for a few extra minutes there by the door—engraving the sight into his mind because he knew once Len returned to his Cold persona after the heat ended, he won’t have the chance to do so—but there was soft mechanical noise from the hallway, and he turned his head just in time to see one of Gideon’s little robots wheeled over, an unopened small pack of cement balanced on it’s top.

The little robot wheeled towards Barry and let out a high-pitched trill, its small round body bounced a bit, making the pack it was balancing wavered a bit.

Barry’s eyes flickered to the room across the hall and sighed, where more little robots were cleaning up after the mess his fight with his time remnant had created earlier. “Right. Need to fix that too,” he said tiredly and bent down to grab the pack, only to be surprised when the robot evaded him and let out another high-pitched trill.

It took Barry a full 30 seconds to realize that the robot was communicating with him using Morse Code. 

“You don’t want my help up here?” he frowned at the robot and raised an eyebrow when the robot gave him and affirmative trill. “But you need to patch the hole in the wall—,” he was cut off with another series of trill from the robot as it urged Barry to finish building the nest instead. Barry knew that there was no arguing with this robot, hence, he grabbed the little Roomba and flashed to the other room where he quickly mixed the cement for them. At least that would help them to patch the wall quicker.

“Thank you, guys,” he said, and couldn’t stop the amused laugh slipping past his lips as the little robots answered him with long cheerful trills.

Leaving the little robots to their work, Barry flashed back downstairs and phased into the room, only to be shocked upon seeing the now fully-painted walls, a pile of little Roombas with blinking red light was next to the empty paint cans. Gideon floated near her console, her holographic face looked positively proud as Barry gaped at her handiwork.

“Giddy, this is…,” Barry said, stepping past the pile of Roombas to walk to the center of the room.

“Do you like it?” she asked, sounding almost shy and hopeful, much like a child asking for approval.

Barry beamed at her. “It’s wonderful, Giddy,” he smiled, taking in the colours of the walls, the subtle blend of shades of blue, making it seemed like they were under clear blue sky instead of a confined room. “You did well with the walls. I love the gradients—so…calming.”

“I could’ve do more if I have my body back,” she sighed, pouting sulkily despite the way Barry’s eyes widened as he stared at her. “I did the wiring and alteration in the walls when Daddy was pregnant with the twins and he really loved it when he could manipulate the walls to the backgrounds he liked…,” she let out a long sigh again. “There is so little I could do with Thawne’s utility robots…”

Barry’s jaw was officially unhinged from his skull.

Body? 

“Gideon, you have a body?!” Barry was barely able to stop himself from shrieking.

Gideon blinked and tilted her floating head to the side as if she didn’t understand his confusion. Then, she pouted. “I do…well, I _did_ …until Thawne kidnapped me,” she muttered, her voice was a cross of angry and sulky. “I don’t know what he did to my body once he stashed me in this god-awful console.”

“How?” Barry breathed. “I mean, how do you get a body?”

“You built me,” she stated, as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth. “And Daddy designed me so that I look like the mix of both of you,” she added, smiling fondly. 

Barry ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Gideon, I’m sorry,” he sputtered out, wondering why the hell his future self didn’t save the AI. “I don’t know why my future-self didn’t save you, and I’m very sorry—”

He halted mid-sentence when she smiled fondly at him.

“Fathe—,” she stopped and shook her head. “Dad,” she started again, the way she fondly called him with that name had Barry jolted in pleasant surprise and slight guilt. “If future you saved me, I won’t be here to help you, would I?” her projection smiled at him. “Your future-self warned me about this, and promised that one day, when his past self no longer needed me, he is going to run back in time to retrieve me,” she said, her voice carried a little tint of sadness and hope. Then, she transformed to a full body projection and floated closer to place her hand on his cheek. There was no weight of the palm against his cheek, but Barry could still feel her presence there. 

“Giddy,” he sighed, leaning slightly into her palm, her projection went distorted before she shifted to accommodate his movement.

“He said that he needed me here to make sure that his past self—you—don’t do stupid shit that will jeopardize his current happiness,” she smiled again, this time a little bit more mischievous. “His words, not mine.”

Barry gave her a shaky smile. “Thank you.”

She beamed at him before shifting back to float next to her console, one hand on her hips while the other pointed at him, her eyes glaring sternly at him. “Now, get to work. This nest isn’t going to build itself.”

Barry blinked at her, taking in the way her eyes seemed to crinkle in that displeased attitude that was oh so familiar and resembled how Len looked like back when Barry was going undercover as Sam.

That look Len had when he was about to flip tables but can’t because he has to put on a cool front? Yep, that one.

Barry knew better to start getting to work before Gideon sent a horde of utility robots to hound his ass.

He ran in circles, creating a little tornado that blew warm air to the freshly-painted wall, drying them in an instant. Barry set to work after that, layering the carpeting onto the black marbles. It was soft faux fur of the same colours of the one on Len’s parka, a hidden joke he thought while he was choosing it, hoping that it would amuse Len. Gideon silently opened the hidden door while he was working. It was just wide enough for one person to fit through, but enough to mark the entrance to the room. There was a console near the door that Barry knew he has to tamper with so that Len could have the access into the room. Barry kicked his shoes off before he practically launched himself onto the carpeting as he smiled to himself, honestly couldn’t resist the pleasant feeling of soft fur against his toes. It was so soft that he almost gave up and curled up on the carpet, sorely tempted to get a nap himself but he didn’t.

He had hurt Len, the least he could do was to create a safe haven for the man.

He could sleep some other time.

Gideon let out a soft sound resembling a sigh and it wasn’t long after that when one of her little utility robots wheeled into the room, balancing a plastic bin filled with nutrient bars and a cold can of energy drink. It trilled with that high-pitched sound again, bouncing a bit when Barry turned to stare blankly at it.

“Please eat something, Father,” Gideon said, exasperation barely hidden from her voice. “Daddy would be worried if you passed out later.”

Barry almost snorted. As if Len would actually care. Whatever the thief was feeling right now, his dependency on Barry was mostly hormones and heat-influenced. Len would ice him the first chance he could think clearly again, as evident from the numb, slowly healing frostbitten patches on his torso.

Barry apparently had spaced out because the next thing he knew was the cold can being pressed to his cheek by the extendable claw of the robot. It trilled loudly, pressing the cold can slightly harder against Barry’s cheek—

—and a flash of colour assaulted Barry’s vision, causing him to sway and collapse onto his knees—

_“Cold!!” Barry was half-shrieking and half-yelping, shocked at the sudden cold pressing at the back of his neck._

_“You called?”_

_He glared at the owner of the voice, although he did accept the offered can of drinks._

_“Is that even necessary?”_

_“You have that angsty angry look again. I think you need to cool down.”_

_Barry snorted before bringing his knees up and buried his face there. He gazed over to the older man, feeling the tension that he had long suppressed threatened to explode._

_It did explode._

_“So many people have died, Snart…It’s only a matter of time before Zoom get a hold of my friends. I started this mess. I created the singularity. I open our world to Zoom. All that I ever wanted was to make things better but I can’t do anything without ruining other people’s life! I’M SUPPOSED TO BE A HERO, I SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING GOOD!”_

_“And yet you’re here sulking like a petulant child even after I risked the wrath of Rip Hunter by hijacking a time ship to respond to that emergency message your Gideon sent my way.”_

_“It’s not my idea….,” Barry mumbled to his knees. “I just randomly told her that you’re easier to talk to as compared to…y’know….”_

_“I’m here now. Talk, kid.”_

_Barry sighed._

_“I’m tired, Snart. So, tired. Sometimes, I just want to stop running you know? Sometimes, I just want to sleep and never wake up again. I never did anything good anyway…All that I have done, it ended up hurting everyone around me. I’m a curse. My mom died because Thawne wanted to kill me. My dad spent years in prison because of me. The particle accelerator exploded because Thawne wanted to create me. Bette died because of me. Firestorm was tortured by the military because of me. Eddie died because of me. Caitlin lost her husband because of me. Zoom comes to our world because of ME. All of these threatened metas and their doppelgangers, they were my responsibilities! Heck, even the real Harrison Wells and his wife, Tess, died because of ME!”_

_Barry’s glassy vision met intense blue gaze as he croaked softly._

_“Now, Linda is in danger too, because of me.”_

_Barry broke to soft sobs._

_“What am I doing, Snart? Why am I such a curse?”_

_It was a brief silence before Barry felt an arm slung over his shoulder and pulled him closer to the warm body beside him. Snart’s hand rubbed up and down his upper arm before squeezing slightly._

_“You’re a hero, Scarlet.”_

_“I’m a curse. Somebody should have already exorcised me and send me back to hell, where I belong.”_

_It was a beat of silence before Snart exhaled a long heavy drag of breath._

_“Barry, I have something to tell you—”_

Barry choked for breath as Snart’s voice faded to distorted thrumming, his vision went fuzzy and swirling.

“—ther! Fa—ther!”

Barry jolted at that loud call, his heart thumped violently against his ribcage, one hand fisted on the fur of the carpet as the other instantly went to press against his chest—because it hurt, it hurt so much, so painful, so difficult to breathe—

“Dad!”

Gideon yelled and Barry’s felt his body spasmed as if he was electrocuted before he could regain control of his body again. He was sweating hard enough to dampen his shirt, his head felt heavy and dizzy and he was fisting on the carpet so hard like his life was depending on it. There were noises—Gideon’s voice, concerned trill of the robot—but it all didn’t register in his pounding head.

What was _that_?

Was that his memories?

He didn’t remember those happened from his timeline—because in his original timeline, he was always alone, curled up on the cold floor of his bathroom or against the harsh wind at the roof of STARlabs as he lamented on everything that he had ruined for people around him.

He never remembered having Len as a steady comforting presence beside him.

But yet, those visions felt so close and familiar.

“Dad?”

Barry sighed as he pulled his body up to sit properly. The little robot wheeled closer to him, extending one claw to poke him on his thigh as it let out that high-pitched trill again. Gideon hovered closer too, there was something resembled of a frown on her holographic face. He cracked a smile at them both, albeit a bit shaky, but extended a hand to rub the top of the robot’s head regardless.

“Dad?” Gideon’s tone was worried, slightly guilty even.

“Hmm?” 

“I think you do need your sleep.”

“No,” Barry shook his head, knowing full well that a nightmare was in order should he went to sleep. Each and every one of his failure and all the loss he had mourned was triggered from those visions alone. He wouldn’t have a fitful sleep. “No,” he repeated, a bit firmer as he gave an assuring smile at Gideon.

“But—“

“I need to do something.”

Barry ignored the worried look Gideon was giving him. His body seemed to be moving in auto-pilot, retreating to the familiar mechanical state he often withdrew into as he moved in a slightly slower speed to install the shelves onto the wall.

He was so tired.

He needed to do something.

_Anything._

=====================================================================================

Barry was so close to passing out on his feet when he finally complete building the nest.

He slid down the wall near the open door, finally done after tampering with the door’s console, his shoulders sagged in exhaustion, eyes closed as his mind danced between the temptation of blacking out right there or flashed upstairs so that he could curl himself against Len.

It wasn’t clear or obvious before—how the whole marking Len thing would affect him—considering that the only strange behavior he has was the possessiveness over the thief but the effect was getting stronger now. He could sense Len, knowing how far their current distance was, his mind automatically getting anxious and edgy when he felt the discomfort and fear in his chest. He knew the emotions weren’t his as it resembled a pull, a metaphorical tug that pulled him upstairs in Len’s general direction. Nightmare, it seemed, because whatever that had scared Len has invoked anger inside Barry—the emotion was so raw and his Alpha bristled, roaring for Lewis to die—

—only that Barry has no idea why he knew it was _Lewis_.

Regardless, he was edgy and anxious, fighting down his instinct that wished to complete the bond, to make Len rightfully his so that no one, not even Lewis from the land of dead could hurt him. It was almost too easy, Len was still vulnerable, emotionally dependent on Barry now that they were in his after-heat glow and it would be too easy to convince Len to mark him back. There might be some trouble to officiate the bond and get the appropriate certificate since Len was still a criminal after murdering Lewis, but that was just the technicality stuffs. Len would be completely his by then, and there was no painless way for the thief to get out of their bond-marriage. Len would be his and only his— 

Shit, that sounded stomach-churningly, disturbingly, like forced marriage.

Barry buried his face to his knees.

What the fuck is wrong with him that he could have the heart to consider that?

But Bas and Caitlin were right about this whole marking thing could ended up really wrong. Barry has full access to Len’s emotions now. He knew where Len was and even has the slight inkling of what the thief was doing—which currently was whimpering in his comforter cocoon, all the while trying to curl himself smaller in response to the nightmare he was suffering. If he was a completely bad person, this knowledge would be an advantage to manipulate the thief—

—and now Len has woken up.

Barry winced, feeling the phantom thundering of heartbeats that was not his—so close as if he was holding the heart in his own hands. There was also the start of panic attack. Barry couldn’t explain it but he somehow knew that Len’s breathing pattern had grown erratic over split seconds. Len was worrying over something, almost at the brink of crying as he frantically looking around his room for—

—oh, he was looking for Barry.

Barry stood, fully intending to run upstairs to comfort Len’s panic when he heard the soft, barely audible clicks from the hallway. The clicks moved swiftly, heading right upstairs as if it was sure where it was going and Barry almost broke the console when he slammed his palm onto the console to close the door as he flashed outside of the little safe haven. The clicks halted, as if knowing Barry was there.

Barry tensed when it started to move again.

It was swift, barely detectable in the dark as if the intruder was all too used to move in the dark. They both moved, Barry searching while the intruder evading him in the darkness like they were in an intimate dance ritual. Barry could have ordered the house to switch on the light—Eobard’s smart-house was a blessing—but then he didn’t know what the intruder was capable of and to give away his position like that seemed like a death wish that would warrant a couple of arrows in his back.

Oliver would be all too bow-and-string-happy to remind him to not rush headlong into a fight without a plan.

The intruder moved closer, no sound this time and Barry let out a warning snarl. It was another Alpha, his instinct angrily supplied, and that alone triggered the beastly side of him that when he felt a presence behind him, he spun around with speed just barely like a normal human’s speed to grab that person by the neck.

Cool metal that smelled of toxic was instantly pressed to his throat.

“Careful, I could turn you to gold statue in split seconds.”

“Lisa?” Barry’s grip loosened just slightly that the woman was able to free herself from his grip.

Lisa stepped around until she was directly under the moonlight that penetrated through the clear ceiling, her eyes widened, a confused frown was on her face although her gun against Barry’s throat didn’t shake nor waver as she whispered incredulously.

“Jailbait?”

=====================================================================================

Lisa was sure she was about to confront the Flash when she broke into the secluded house at the top of the hill.

It took her longer than she would like to, but Cisco had no idea where the Flash and her brother was, since the Flash suit was found in the laundry room in STARlabs and that was the end of her hope to persuade Cisco to use the tracker to track down the speedster. Her brother’s scent clung heavily to the leather (damn it, Lise, babe, its REINFORCED TRI-POLYMER—shut up imaginary Cisco) and not only that, the unmistakable scent of heat and mating was so strong that she almost set the suit on fire.

She only stopped because she didn’t want to wake Cisco up.

She had promised to stop snooping, hacking and breaking into STARlabs properties when they started dating after all.

And the brother of Cisco’s boss was sleeping in the living area upstairs too, so she didn’t take any risk. She didn’t want her boy got into trouble with his boss if her little breaking and entering came to the man’s knowledge.

Not that Jailbait intimidated her or anything—he was the most vanilla and cutest Alpha she had ever met—but she’d liked to keep that one rich Alpha she personally knew in good terms with her.

Totally not related to the fact that she knew that her brother was crushing on the guy just as much as he was crushing on the Flash. Nope.

But, off records, she rather has Jailbait as her brother-in-law than the hero.

Although she had this speculation that Jailbait might be sleeping with the Flash since their scents mingled so well that it was impossible for her to isolate their scents. The only difference was that the Flash’s scent was stronger and muskier, all emitting the aggressive Alpha vibe while Jailbait was more vanilla and even a bit sweeter. 

Which led her to this house as she took another full day to track down the Flash’s scent, terrorizing poor merchants on her way as it seemed that the Flash was really out of his mind to do his shopping in costume.

She shrugged the gossip that the Flash was shopping for his mate. She was pretty sure the hero was trying to trick her vulnerable brother into a false sense of security and force a bond with him. 

Full control over Captain Cold.

FBI, ARGUS, the police and the military would kill for that.

Lisa won’t put past the Flash that the hero was capable of committing such treachery. He already wrongfully imprisoned people and broke multiple laws and human’s rights in the process—this treachery was another human’s right the hero would break to ensure ‘peace’ in his city.

Thus, imagined her surprise when she tried to sneak attack the Flash (the guy was fast but NOT a psychic), only to recognize the gentle features of Jailbait that she has begrudgingly grew fondness on.

“Lisa?”

“Jailbait?”

Of fucking course this was Jailbait’s house. The guy inherited _everything_ from the weirdass creepy scientist. This house was rightfully his too. And seeing that Flash’s track led here, Lisa was convinced that the kid must have been sleeping with the hero. Oh, her poor brother. Both of his crushes were fucking each other without him. Perhaps she could convince Jailbait to go into a threesome if the Flash survived her wrath?

“What are you doing here? Breaking into my house?”

Lisa snorted. Bet Jailbait didn’t know what his heroic boyfriend had done to her brother.

“Looking for your boyfriend, Jailbait. Where is he?”

For a second, Lisa thought the tension in Jailbait’s shoulder was due to the fact of being busted for sleeping around with the Flash. She almost laughed and teased the kid, but then she caught a whiff of Jailbait’s scent. She immediately frowned. Something didn’t add up. There was no more sweetness and vanilla of his scent but it was replaced with a muskier scent with the barest hint of vanilla she usually associated with the Jailbait. 

Huh, weird.

Someone’s scent didn’t change so drastically, unless if they were under suppressant or used a really strong scent masker. Lisa leant closer, trying to be sure and it only serve to confuse her even more. She could still smell the original scent that oh so sweetly Jailbait, but it was barely there, like something inside the kid has shifted and changed his scent. In a way, he smelled exactly like the track she was following, and it just became even more prominent as more tension radiated from his body.

She stared into his eyes, her mind layered a red mask over his face and she gasped sharply.

Shit, she should’ve known better.

She has NEVER seen Jailbait and the Flash in the same room after all.

Lisa’s trigger finger twitched.

“Never mind,” she smirked. “Found him.”

Jailbait stared at her, those wide green eyes blinked in confusion at her.

“Hello, Flash.”

Lisa aimed and pulled the trigger.

=====================================================================================

Len jolted awake with a choked gasp.

His hand instinctively flew to the bedside table, finger gripping the cool metal of his gun, seeking the comfort from the trigger. He could feel the beginning of his panic attack—something he hadn’t suffer for years, but now it came back. His heart thundered against his ribcage, his vision went hazy to the tears of fear that welled at the brim of his eyes. His breathing grew erratic, almost to the point of it was painful to breathe. Len tried to breathe properly, not wanting to go into a panic attack but the fear kept coming back.

It came back because Lewis had Barry.

Lewis had Barry. Len didn’t know how his old man did it but that son of a bitch had Barry helpless in his clutch, trapped in a restraint that blocked his powers and _his_ Barry was bleeding to death.

The cold gun whirred to life.

Len gripped his gun, eyes wild as he assessed the room, trying to seek a clue, any clue that could lead him to Barry and Lewis. He blinked his eyes clear, fully alert now. There was nothing odd within his vision. He was in a different room from when he had fallen asleep in Barry’s embrace, but the design and decoration was fairly similar. Len was untouched, so it was best to assume that Lewis had come specifically for Barry and not Len. 

That thought made Len’s heart twisted painfully.

Why must his past haunted him now and hurt his lover?

He swung his legs off the bed, shrugging off the bundle of blankets that wrapped around him as he slowly treaded outside, the cold radiating from his gun was a comfort against the chills that grasped his heart. Len walked with grace and stealth, the pain from two days ago had faded to dull throb—now it was like that annoying bruise that you kept on poking rather than literal pain in the ass—and it took him halfway of his journey down the hallway to notice that his supposedly sprained wrist had almost fully healed. He halted, eyes staring at the little remaining of swelling on his wrist with awe and wonder.

Though, he didn’t have time to remain in his wonder when he heard a crash right downstairs in the main hall. He sneaked down, using the shadows as his cover as he observed and assessed the situation. Barry was still alive, and Len exhaled a breath of relief as he watched the speedster spun in a whirlwind of blurred colour as he avoided the continuous blast of gold.

Blast of gold.

Len gritted his teeth. Lewis had gotten to Lisa first. 

He screwed his eyes shut, mind sending prayers to any God that protected the soul of thieves and liar for Lisa’s safety because that can’t be Lisa. That person who continuously sending blast after blast of toxic gold in the direction of his mate can’t be his baby sister. Lewis must have had a hold on Lisa first to retrieve the gun that was on par with his cold gun. Lisa won’t hurt the man who saved her life from a bomb that was implanted in her neck—

—wait. 

Bomb in Lisa’s neck. Heist. Dead tech. Barry undercovering as Sam. His old man assumed that he was sleeping with the kid and purposely shot Barry. What was the end of that whole mess…?

Wait, hadn’t he gone to prison after that because he killed Lewis?

That happened in this timeline too, right? He killed Lewis, right?

Then, who—?

“FLAAAASSSHHH!!!”

Len winced at Lisa’s loud roar.

Okay, that was his baby sister all right. But why was she attacking his mate?

“Lisa!” Barry skidded to a halt and barely evaded a blast that was aimed to his gut. “Look, listen to me—”

Lisa growled and aimed. Len recognized that look. That was the look she always had whenever someone had wronged her (usually her exes) and she was planning either a horrible torment or a murder for that person. From the look of it, Lisa was considering the latter.

Len’s blood ran cold.

He didn’t think. He just stepped out of his hiding spot and raised his gun just when Lisa pulled the trigger. It happened so fast. He knew Barry could be fast enough to evade the shot, but there was toxic gold encasing the speedster’s leg and Barry was actually shaking, green eyes hooded in exhaustion; looking very much that he was on the verge of passing out.

Len didn’t think. It’s all pure instinct. His own blast of ice streamed through the room aimed to encase Lisa’s gold blast as Lisa screamed;

“YOU HURT AND TRIED TO MANIPULATE MY BROTHER!”

And like a switch had been flipped, a flash of colour assaulted Len’s vision, causing him to sway and half-collapsed against the wall—

_“YOU HURT AND TRIED TO MANIPULATE MY BROTHER!!”_

_Len rolled his eyes as Barry twitched and scooted closer to half-hid behind Len. “Chill it, sis.”_

_“CHILL?? How dare you make that pun with me, Lenny!” She scowled, pointing the muzzle of her gun right to Barry’s nose. “He’s a badge! And the heir to STARlabs, which we all know is the Flash’s headquarters!”_

_“Technically, I’m a CSI so not a badge—”_

_He was cut off with a glare from Lisa._

_“Lise—”_

_“Because of this kid, Lenny, Mardon hurt you—”_

_Len shrugged, although his hand did wander up to his bruised ribs that Barry was bandaging. “To be fair, I pissed Mardon off first—”_

_“BECAUSE YOU TRIED TO HELP THE FLASH!” Lisa screamed, pointing one sharp manicured finger in Barry’s direction. “He saw you sneaked into this jailbait’s house to warn him and his little side business about Mardon’s plot on his little speedy employee!”_

_“I’m twenty-six…”_

_“Shut up, Jailbait.”_

_“Yes, ma’am.”_

_Len sighed and winced a bit when Barry secured the bandages a bit too tight on his bruised ribs. “Lisa…”_

_“No, Lenny. Listen to me,” Lisa cut him off, eyes glaring daggers at Barry. “Jailbait right here is the owner of STARlabs. He was there when I asked for their help back when Snart Sr. kidnapped you. He is Cisco’s boss. And he also obviously knew that the Flash is using his properties as Flash’s headquarters. Did you not see anything wrong here?”_

_Len stared blankly at her. “No.”_

_“I meant no harm…,” Barry interjected softly._

_Lisa glared at them both as if they just told her that they were getting married. A deep growl slipped past her lips as she threw her arms to the air in complete exasperation._

_“Really, I was just trying to help,” Barry tried again. He lowered his gaze, a rare display from an Alpha that it both amused and irritated Lisa as he added softly. “I—the Flash said that Len was injured but didn’t want to accept our doctor’s help…so I went out to make sure that he is okay.”_

_Len snorted but said nothing as he patted down on the bandages, hiding his winces of pain like a pro._

_“Oh, shut it, Jailbait. Alphas like you are all sweet and cutesy but we all know that you have other intentions, right?” she growled. “Look, Lenny bring you here into our safehouse. That meant something, kid,” she growled and casted a quick angry glare in the direction of her brother before returning her gaze to Barry. “If you really wanted to patch him up after he helped your speedy **employee** , why didn’t you do it at STARlabs, huh? Or your apartment? Why here, in our safehouse?”_

_Barry gaped and averted his gaze as he flushed pink._

_Lisa smiled sardonically while Len rolled his eyes and gingerly put on his shirt back._

_“You wanted something from him, Jailbait. Information, perhaps? This kindness you show, it’s fake, right? Nothing more than a lousy attempt to manipulate my brother. Anything to get Captain Cold back on file. That lousy murder of Lewis wasn’t enough to convict him for life, huh? Bet your boss at the precinct wasn’t very happy when you lost all the evidences on him, because of the Flash’s silly little negotiation?”_

_“Lisa…”_

_“Lenny, shush.”_

_Len sighed miserably. Barry casted a cautious look between the two before meekly hunched his shoulders when Lisa cocked her gun at his head. Rolling his eyes, Len tugged Barry up and pulled the younger man towards the little kitchen island of the safehouse, he was completely ignoring his flabbergasted sister._

_“You want coffee or beer, Barry?”_

_“Ah—um…”_

_“LENNY!!!”_

Len gasped for breath as Lisa’s scream faded to distorted echo. His vision was fuzzy and swirling, he was leaning against the wall, his gun dropped unceremoniously from his slack grip as he panted. It wasn’t long before he felt gentle slim fingers caught him in an embrace—

“LENNY!”

—but it wasn’t the embrace that he wanted. Too soft and squishy, body too curvy and didn’t fit him right.

He pushed Lisa away, eyes seeking for his mate in the darkness and his heart almost stopped when he saw Barry at the other end of the main hall. The speedster was sitting slouched against the wall, one leg bent to support his head while the other was stretched out in front of him, bright gold and dark splotches of red encased said leg. Barry was whimpering, hands tugging on his own hair, like he was having a horrible headache.

Something inside him cried out, reaching out to a non-existent string that was supposedly help him to know exactly what Barry was feeling. He was terrified. He didn’t know what was going on with Barry. Was he badly hurt? Was he angry? Was he mad at Len? Or was he angry at Lisa?

It scared Len stiff that he didn’t know anything.

Len felt strangely empty.

Thus, he staggered towards Barry, ignoring his own pounding head until he was close enough to pull the speedster into his embrace. Barry gasped sharply and for a split-second Len feared that Barry was going to push him away. To his relief, the speedster tentatively leant closer, resting his forehead against Len’s chest, his shoulders went slack like all the weight he carried was taken away from such simple contact. Len buried his nose into Barry’s hair, inhaling the speedster’s comforting scent. Len was planting a kiss on Barry’s damp temple when the speedster spoke.

“Do you remember?”

Len started at the sudden question but shakily nodded.

Surely Barry was referring to whatever he experienced a few seconds ago because the speedster seemed to be in the same state as him. Burying his face into Barry’s hair, Len murmured back;

“I think so.”

Barry snorted, a muffle noise of sarcastic laugh against Len’s skin. “This timeline is weird.”

Len rolled his eyes. “Seconded, Scarlet.”

The soft clicks of Lisa’s heels reminded them that they were not alone. They both looked up, meeting the displeased scowl on Lisa’s face with sheepish grin of their own.

“I demand explanation, Lenny. Before I golded Jailbait’s pretty face for good.”

=====================================================================================

“Ow!!”

Barry winced, trying to pull his leg back but Len’s grip was strong as the older man held him still.

“Stop being a baby, Scarlet,” the thief huffed, although there was no bite in his tone, his movement grew even more careful as he picked on the golden patches on Barry’s leg. “We’re running out of the neutralizer and if you want to have your leg in one piece, you better shut up and let me get rid of these gold patches from your skin.”

“Hurt,” Barry sniffled, arms squeezing the little cushion tight. 

“I know, babe,” Len murmured patiently, thumb stroking the unwounded skin on Barry’s calf. “Hold on, this is going to hurt…”

Barry instantly bit on the cushion when Len pressed down on his knee with one hand, the thief’s own knee pressed Barry’s foot still as the thief proceeded to pull a particularly stubborn patch of gold from the skin of Barry’s calf. Needless to say, his skin went away along with the gold like a bloody pore strip, causing fresh blood to trickle down his leg onto the thick towel that was separating his leg from the pristine surface of the sofa. Barry hissed when Len quickly pressed a clean towel over the gaping wound.

The bloody strip of Barry’s skin that was golded went into the pile of skin-and-gold strips in the basin on the floor.

“I feel like I’m being skinned alive,” Barry whined, shoulders tensed when Len unceremoniously pressed alcohol-doused cloth onto the wound.

“To be fair, I’m peeling your skin off, Scarlet,” Len snorted, applying more pressure to stop the bleeding. “Being skinned alive ain’t that far from truth.”

“Remind me to ask Cisco to prepare extra neutralizer in the first aid kit for this kind of situation…,” Barry grumbled, though his shoulders did relax when the bleeding was reduced enough to allow Len to bandage his calf.. “The industrial neutralizer would have melted my flesh right off my bone and that would be a bitch to heal.”

“But it’s good that you have that right here, eh? And your little robots too. Because I’m sure neither of us are up to cleaning now,” Len hummed, eyes flickered briefly to the main hall where an army of little robots were diligently scrubbing the remains of Lisa’s gold off the walls and floor. 

“I’m seriously considering to give Thawne a hug now.”

Len snorted and rolled his eyes.

Lisa watched the interaction in the mix of amusement and annoyance.

Really. To hear that her world was not their original universe from _both_ her brother and the Flash was already an impossibly bizarre thing she had ever experienced ever since the damn accelerator exploded. At first, she thought that it was the Flash’s excuse to cover up his dirty agenda but when Lenny confirmed it himself, with evidences of Lenny’s cluelessness regarding his own biology when he got back, everything made sense in the weirdest way possible. 

Then, to witness these two not-lovebirds getting all cheesy and sweet lovey-dovey right in front of her almost made her puke rainbows and unicorn crap.

It was disgustingly sweet.

Len patted Barry’s thigh once he was done before leaning close, pushing the speedster up against the arm rest of the sofa they were lounging on, lips inching closer. Barry sighed, body lax and relaxed as he closed his eyes and tilted his face when Len captured his lips in a small peck. Len nudged him slightly, causing him to shift, the movement caused his throat to be bared open and vulnerable. Len halted midway of trailing kisses down Barry’s jaw, blue eyes fixed on Barry’s neck, needs and desire flashed in his eyes.

Len was about to lean down onto the vulnerable skin of Barry’s neck, teeth bared and poised to bite when he felt his shoulder was both tugged and pushed away.

He blinked and scowled at Barry’s hand that was pushing him away and Lisa’s hands that was pulling him away.

“Lenny, NO,” they both said simultaneously.

Lisa then blinked and stared at Barry in disbelief. “Wait, no? You’re not letting him mark you?”

Barry shook his head and Len felt his heart broke at that. He was about to retreat and sulk when Barry’s arms came up to wrap around his waist, successfully anchoring Len to him, pressing the older man flush against his body. “Not now.”

Len whined.

“Why?” Lisa’s voice was quiet, calculative and deadly, much like how Len was when he was considering and planning something. “By completing the bond, you, as the Alpha, would have full authority over him. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Barry snarled. “Don’t make it sound so one-sided, Glider. You know that real bonding doesn’t work that way. The Beta or Omega would have equal authority over the Alpha too.”

Lisa sneered. “But you aren’t aiming for real bonding, right, Flash?” she cooed dangerously, running one finger down Barry’s jaw until it reached his chin, of which she harshly tilted up. Their eyes met—jade green stared into icy blue with gaze so ancient and deep that it made Lisa felt incredibly young and naïve. Lisa let go of her grip on the Flash and muttured through her gritted teeth. 

“Self-righteous hero like you wouldn’t even cast a look at Lenny, the old criminal. How could you genuinely love him when you two clash principles so much?”

“That’s why I said ‘not now’,” Barry hummed, arms securing round Len’s waist when the thief tried to wriggle free from him, the sulky pout was on Len’s face.

“Not now?” Len finally grunted out, pushing his body up so that he could meet Barry’s eyes. “Why?”

Barry smiled gently at him. “So that we both could be sure,” he stated simply, pressing one hand over Len’s cheek. “I don’t know how much had changed after my attempt to change my past, but one thing is obvious…,” he exhaled deeply, thumb stroking the skin below Len’s eyes fondly. “Our relationship is different. _Very_ different.”

“What, in your _original_ timeline, you two are not Netflix buddies?” Lisa said snidely, her face twisted to a sneering grimace.

Len and Barry stared at her. “Netflix buddies?”

Lisa raised an eyebrow. “Ever since Lenny got hurt saving your ass from Mardon last Christmas, you two had this some sort of pattern on marathoning geeky movies and series on Netflix,” she said with a horrified shudder. “Said that it helped with your insomnia, Jailbait,” she jerked her chin in Barry’s direction before tilting her head towards Len, “…and Lenny wouldn’t lost his cool tough persona too much for being a closet nerd he is since he always blamed you for your nerdy Netflix list,” she snorted humourlessly. “That was until that Brit came and take Lenny on his crusade to change the future. But even then, whenever Lenny visited, you two always have that Netflix night regardless how restrictive or short Lenny’s _shore leave_ was.”

By the time she done talking Len and Barry were already gaping in disbelief.

“We did that?!”

Lisa blinked.

“Wait, in your original timeline, you didn’t?!”

Barry and Len exchanged a look before shaking their head. “No,” Barry said while Len added, “we’re not even friends.”

Lisa gaped.

Ten seconds later, she breathed out in awe. “I like your original timeline.”

Len scowled at her. Barry seemed thoughtful, eyes dazed and tired before he was snapped out of his thoughts when Len tapped a finger on his cheek. 

“Scarlet…”

“Hmm?”

“You’re still not answering my question.”

“Right,” Barry said, exhaling deeply. He averted his gaze, cheeks flushed slight pink as he was looking at everywhere but Len as he mumbled bashfully, “…I was thinking that with all the changes and our somehow forgotten memories…we might need to take it slow. Baby steps?” he chuckled sheepishly though his embrace tightened around Len’s waist. “I promise I will help you and always be with you after this, even if you’re not pregnant with my pup. But…we don’t have to force a marriage,” he shook his head when Len opened his mouth to retort. “I’m not going to force you to marry me, Len. I’m technically your rapist,” he kissed Len’s cheek apologetically, lips shaking. “You’re still under the influence of your heat. We don’t know if you genuinely want me or this is your hormones talking. So, baby steps. We wait for your heat to end, and then if you still want to try this, we can go out on dates, get to know each other—do this relationship thing properly. Is that okay?”

Len was swooning.

Screw the heat, he was sure that he genuinely loved this kid. 

Grinning cheekily, Len pecked Barry’s lips again. “Is that you asking me out, Scarlet?”

Barry smiled back. “Is that kiss means a ‘yes’?”

Len leant down to kiss Barry again, only to yelp in shock when he was pulled off Barry straight into the embrace of his sister as Lisa cocked her gun directly at Barry’s forehead, her voice dropped a few tones, dangerously low and angry as she growled;

“What do you mean with being ‘technically Lenny’s _rapist_ ’, Flash?”

Len rolled his eyes and facepalmed while Barry’s face paled. 

“You and your big mouth, Scarlet.”

====================================================================================

“I can’t believe you just did that, Lenny,” Barry said in awe, as they closed the door behind the still-steaming-but-very-much-cooled-down Lisa.

“Did what?” Len hummed innocently, pleased with his newfound ability as he peeked outside where Lisa’s silhouette could be seen against the darkness of early morning.

“You jedi mind-fucked her,” Barry accused, limping slightly to catch up with Len.

“I do no such thing.”

“No. You really do. One second she was angry and about to blast my brain out and the next second she simmered down like a good little puppy,” he frowned, his gaze fell to his injured hand. “She would have golded my head, but instead you made her dropped her gun—which again, remind me to tell Cisco that he needs to have a look at Lisa’s gun and added extra safety or anything.”

When Lisa’s gun hit the ground, Barry was seriously not expecting the gun would went off and shot his hand.

Needless to say, the toxic gold hurt like hell.

The fact that they had to literally skinned his arm to get rid of the gold was another new level of pain and torment.

“Does that hurt too much?” Len turned around with concerned eyes. “I didn’t mean for the gun to went off on its own…”

“Nah…,” Barry shook his head, hiding his hand behind him. “It would heal in a couple of hours. Maybe by noon, tops.”

“You sure?”

No, he wasn’t sure. He has to skin his own arm. That might take a tad bit longer to heal!

“Positive.”

Len sighed and peeked out again. He waited until he heard the loud thrumming of Lisa’s bike faded into the silence of the dawn before he turned around, planted his palms on Barry’s cheeks as he pulled the speedster close for a deep kiss. Barry’s hand slid down to his waist and they spun, lips still moving languidly as Barry lead Len into a hallway that Len has yet to case. They parted for air, and Len has Barry trapped between his body and the grey wall. He smiled coyly, mouthing on the skin of Barry’s jaw until the speedster moaned, one heavily-bandaged hand found the nape of his neck and clutched tightly.

“If I could hear that sweet moan every day, I wouldn’t mind marrying you, Scarlet,” Len purred, tongue darted out to map the freckles scattered on Barry’s neck.

“If you still feel the same without the hormones, then we can hit Vegas and get married there for real,” Barry laughed, his good hand groped blindly behind him as he sought for the switch. “Wait a sec, Lenny,” he panted, clutching tightly on Len’s neck as his injured leg gave up and he almost collapsed onto the floor. Len ignored him of course, one hand wrapped round Barry’s waist to support the Alpha while Len continued his journey to map every freckle on Barry’s body as he moved down to the shoulders. “Oh, come on, Lenny! I have something for you!” Barry was whining, but he was in a tight spot, his mind almost went blank at the pleasure from Len’s hot mouth on his skin and he really needed to be in control with his head right now but Len wasn’t making it easy for him.

But, since when Captain Cold make anything easy for Barry?

Barry groaned when Len’s hand wandered a bit too low for his sane mind to work and that was the moment he felt the door slid open behind him, causing him to tumble flat onto his back straight into the little safe haven with Len on top of him.

Before any of them could speak, Gideon’s head appeared from the console, her holographic face bore an expression of fond annoyance.

“I’d appreciate it if both of you would warn me the next time you want to get frisky. No daughter wants to be scarred forever to see her fathers' love-making—for speedforce’s sake,” she said with an irritated scowl. “I do have switch off button, you know?”

Len gaped. “Gideon?!”

Barry grinned sheepishly, cheeks still flushed from the beginning of his arousal but the mischievous tone was evident in his voice as he introduced Len to the AI;

“Lenny, meet our daughter, Gideon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to think that I'm being really slow with the progress of this story but it is my first multi-chaptered fic. I wish to make the most of it, and maybe make it my first pet project, hence, bear with my pace. Baby steps, okay? Haha, god I love puns. I'll try my best to keep up with my schedule of weekly update so that you won't be waiting too long to know the next part.
> 
> And I hope that you guys are not that mad at Barry? He's trying really hard here, and even if things seemed one-sided for now, it will go double-sided soon. Haha. See what I did there? No? Never mind. That's my sugar-rush talking.
> 
> And if anyone notice, I mmmiiiiiggghhhhttttt hinted that Len may have some sort of powers. Wonder why.  
> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Comments and feedbacks are like Len and his puns. It made my day.


	7. “You two need to chill out with the puns.” - Barry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len bonded with Gideon. Savitar gotten himself a job. And there may be a disastrous union of three devious females that would be happy to torment Barry.
> 
> Also, Oliver is 1000% done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just noticed that we haven't dived into Iris' POV at all, so here it is~! I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I almost done setting the background of this story. Pretty soon we will get into the good stuffs and all the shenanigans of pregnant Len and future baby daddy Barry.
> 
> As per usual, this is un-betaed, and I'm actually high on caffein and half-asleep wile re-reading and editing this, so please forgive any errors. I may or may not go through this once more to edit for mistakes.
> 
> Happy reading~!

“I think you’re cheating, Daddy.”

Len blinked incredulously at the bluish projection of his newfound daughter—said daughter was giving him the sharpest (most adorable) holographic glare on Earth as she pouted at the board spread out on the fluffy carpeted floor. The little Roomba that played physical medium for her trilled in a questioning tone, the robot’s blue LED gazed back and forth between Len and Gideon’s frowning hologram. 

Yep. A hologram. His daughter is a hologram. 

And Len thought that his life couldn’t get any more trippier after this whole changing universe debacle.

“You cheat. You must have cheated, Daddy.”

Len smirked. 

Her sulky face was so adorable Len would’ve pinched her puffed cheeks if only his hand won’t go through her.

Len considered Giddy as that one thing he actually liked about this new world he woke up in.

Although, to be fair, he did think it was insane at first. He had almost called up the psychiatry ward on Barry earlier when the speedster introduced him with this Gideon, but after a deeper explanation from both of them, Len somehow found the idea of having the AI as his daughter as super cool. This Gideon was far more expressive from the one he was used to on Waverider that Len almost assumed her as a real human soul trapped in the futuristic console. Not only did Giddy understood his references, but she also knew every single one of his favourites, even the guilty pleasure movies he tried so hard to pretend didn’t like. 

They both hit it off almost instantly after that.

(Barry was horrified. His puns nightmare has came true.)

Really, Len never thought that he would find anyone that was willing to marathon-watch all the classic sci-fi series he had always wanted to watch as a child. Gideon and her massive database from future was a pure blessing. They spent a literal hour to organize a proper family movie-marathon calendar, all the while taking in both Barry’s and Len’s schedules into account with Barry’s sleepy comments slowly dissipated to tiny snores behind them. In the end, they decided that Sunday was their little family day and no one got to disturb them on that day.

Giddy even texted Sebastian to ask if he wanted to take up the Flash’s duty on Sunday.

(Bas said okay.)

(Len was very happy that he swore he could’ve hugged the time remnant right at that moment.)

Gideon is _awesome_.

She also has a penchant of snarking him back with equally annoying puns, and was surprisingly on par with him in poker.

Hence, cue their impromptu Monopoly game because Len refused to lose to his daughter—and if he can’t beat her in poker, he would beat her in Monopoly.

Plus, Monopoly was a guilty favourite of his Rogues—and Len thawed them all. He was confident with his skills.

“Is that so?” Len drawled out as he leant back against the bed, where he could feel the heat that Barry naturally radiated warmed up the exposed skin of the nape of his neck. 

As if sensing Len, the speedster shifted to curl so close to the edge of the bed that his forehead touched Len’s shoulder.

Hey, Barry apparently skipped lots of his sleep in these two days for Len’s sake—Len wasn’t going to disrupt his sleep.

Even though that meant less time making out with the kid and more time enjoying the pleasant weirdness as he bonded with this version of Gideon.

Who, by the way, was far more adorable, snarky, sarcastic and nerdy than the Gideon on Waverider.

Len snorted when Gideon’s holographic face pouted at him. “Come on, Giddy. You’re the one from future. If anything, you’re the one who cheated,” he drawled, jerking his chin in the direction of the board. “I want the Department of Mysteries you know?”

Really. Len have never got the chance to steal this limited-edition Harry Potter Monopoly set. And now that he got to play it, he really wanted that Department of Mysteries lot.

Gideon pouted at him. “You literally owned three-quarters of the available lots, Daddy. And Gringotts owed _you_ ,” Len could have sworn that she would flip the board if she has a physical body but before he could come up with a snarky remark, she growled at him, “I gave up.”

Upon her sharp growl, the little robot trilled in short intervals, threw the plastic fake money it was handling to the air before it blinked out, shutting off itself. 

Gideon stared at her robot, annoyance to the betrayal was evidence in her face.

Len laughed. “Ironic that the bank _owed_ me.”

“Yeah,” Gideon muttered sarcastically. “You usually just robbed it.”

“Now, now, don’t be so _frosty_.”

“Oh, no. I’m absolutely _cool_ , Daddy.”

“That’s my girl. Say it. I _sleigh_ the game.”

“Couldn’t say that _icy_ that pun coming.”

Len broke to a full-blown cackle. It’s decided. No matter how many kids he would have after this, Giddy would forever be his favourite.

“You two need to chill out with the puns.”

Len’s head turned around so fast upon hearing the groggy voice muttered, and met nose to nose with Barry whom was still mussed and half-asleep. The now familiar rise of warmth and love filled him, and he neared their distance, bumping his nose gently with Barry’s before tilting his face so that he could peck Barry’s lips.

“Morning,” Barry mumbled sleepily, his lips dragged over Len’s, invoking a tiny whimper from the thief.

“Morning to you too,” Len hummed, one hand curved on the outline of Barry’s jaw, palm pressing up the too-warm cheek. He frowned at the odd temperature, eyes flicked up as his worried gaze met Barry’s sleepy one. “You okay, Scarlet? You’re too warm.”

“I’m always warm,” Barry muttered, eyes closing again while a sigh slipped past his lips. “And I ran even warmer when I’m healing.”

“Oh.”

Len felt the horrible guilt settled in his stomach as his gaze fell to the bandages on Barry’s arm. If only he didn’t coaxed Lisa to let go of the gun, it won’t go off and shot Barry—

“Hey, Lenny,” Barry cut off his thought, smiling assuringly as if he knew the guilt Len was feeling. “I’m fine. It’s normal when I ran a bit warmer while healing. None of it is your fault.”

“I should have taken the gun, not persuade her to let it go,” Len mumbled, not even bothering to try being a snarky ass. Not now. He could try being Captain Cold later when Barry was more awake.

“Hmm~ I’m grateful you did that. Otherwise, it’s my head that would have been skinned,” Barry chuckled, hand coming up to squeeze Len’s own tightly. “Still awed that you could mind control her though.”

“I don’t think I actually control her mind,” Len retorted with a soft defensive voice, although he did squeeze back Barry’s hand. “I won’t mind-control my own sister.”

“Sorry, dear, I don’t mean to offend yo—”

“Actually, you both call it _‘strategic persuasion_ ’,” Gideon interrupted, causing both of her parents to shift their focus to stare at her. She smiled fondly at them, noting their synchronized expressions. “No one knows how Daddy did it. Aunt Cait said it’s not a meta-ability since Daddy has no meta-gene while Aunt Lisie said Daddy has been doing that ever since his first heat,” she tilted her head in Len’s direction. “You have always been so good at persuading and convincing people to submit to your whims.”

Len stared at her with wide eyes and gaping mouth while Barry shot a quick look at Len before breaking to a muffled guffaw.

Len scowled at Barry. “What?”

Barry choked a snort and lifted his body just slightly so that Len could see his grin. “If we last—”

“—you _will_ last,” Gideon interjected with a pout.

“Okay, when we ended up married for real in the future…,” Barry agreed, still grinning above all. “I think I will be very _whipped_ to you.”

Len snorted and smacked a pillow to Barry’s face. “I’ll _whip_ you good, Scarlet,” he drawled, voice heavy with annoyance and sarcasm.

“Is that a promise?” Barry smirked.

And of course Barry turned his words the other way round because apparently the Flash was so good at putting words into people’s mouth—all those ‘there’s good in you’ speeches were the evidences.

Len raised an eyebrow before breaking to his villainous smirk. “That depends,” he drawled, carding his fingers through Barry’s hair, tugging slightly as if he was toying with the speedster. “How bad do you want to be _whipped_ , Scarlet?”

Barry leant closer, the shine in his eyes were positively devious as he tilted his head to catch Len’s lips, the purr resounding from his throat vibrated with desire and Len would have lost himself right there, submitting to the temptation of irresistible strong Alpha if not because of the sudden flickering light that made them to break away and promptly turned their heads towards Gideon.

Gideon, who now was a deep pink hologram instead of blue.

“For speedforce’s sake,” she scowled and grumbled at them. “I do have a switch off button. Please utilize it. I can’t shut down on my own. Please, _Dad, Daddy_ ,” her voice was positively begging right now. “I don’t want to know how you make my baby siblings.”

Len flushed pink and coughed in embarrassment.

On the other hand, Barry broke to a laugh, seemingly more refreshed now as he sat properly, bending down just to kiss Len’s flushed cheeks. There was a sudden whirlwind of movement and Len found himself purring and nuzzling to the soft blanket Barry had draped over him as he was now back on the bed while the speedster was fiddling with Gideon’s console. It didn’t take long for the console to die down with a soft whirr.

“You switched her off?” Len frowned, totally not liking how it sounded. It was like they just shut her down like she was some random AI and not their daughter.

“For the time being,” Barry shrugged, his limp significantly decreased now as he gave a tentative smile at Len. “I’ll figure out how to transfer her to a portable robot or computer later so that she won’t be stuck here.”

“O-okay,” Len mumbled before frowning at himself, wondering why the hell he suddenly felt shy like some teenage girl in love when Barry flopped back on the bed, the speedster’s head rested on Len’s thigh.

“Do you want me to make some breakfast?” Barry hummed, rolling his eyes upwards so that he could catch Len’s gaze. “I know it’s probably almost noon now, so you would probably be hungry.”

Len smirked. “Aren’t you’re the one with the insatiable appetite?”

Barry grinned childishly at him.

Len rolled his eyes. “Food sounds good,” he said, fingers subconsciously carded through Barry’s hair. “But I want hot cocoa first,” he randomly added, just to test Barry if the speedster would fulfil his random needs.

Plus, the room was comfortably cool enough to warrant hot cocoa.

To his pleasant surprise, Barry promptly sat and planted a quick peck on his lips. Instinctively, Len pulled the speedster closer, tugging on the soft brown hair until Barry let out a soft whine against his lips. He honestly thought that they were going to pick up from where they left off before Giddy interrupted but Barry suddenly pulled away, leaning for a gentle peck before he was suddenly out of the bed, leaving Len alone.

Len almost whined at the loss.

But when Barry tilted his head to smile that sunshine smile at him, those horrible messy bed-head did nothing but enhance the adorableness of freshly woken up Barry Allen, Len found his heart skipped a beat and his cheeks warmed up again.

“One hot cocoa, coming right up~!”

Len could barely mumble a soft thank you before Barry flashed away.

Len groaned. He was so doomed, wasn’t he?

 

=====================================================================================

 

Caitlin can’t stop staring.

She really can’t.

She brought the mug up, hoping her morning coffee would finally clear her head from whatever spell Savitar had casted on her because honestly, even _she_ knew that her stares had started to grow a tad bit creepy.

Not that Savitar noticed or showed that he minded anyway. Apparently, all versions of Barry Allen were clueless fuckers when it came to the attentions people directed towards them.

Savitar, who now was casually strolling in her home with nothing more than a white terrycloth wrapped around his waist, brown hair stiff and wet from his shower and there were few little droplets of water trickling down his bare chest down to the curve and contours of those rippling abs before being absorbed into his towel.

Caitlin quickly gulped in a big gulp of scorching hot coffee before her mind could even wandered to the rest of him that was covered by that damned towel.

She internally whined. Why did this happen to her? She was an Alpha too. The sight of another Alpha should not make her mind been filled with _want want want wantwantwantwantwant—_

And it wasn’t like this was the first time she had seen him half-naked, or the first Alpha she had seen in less than modest condition.

But it was the first time she had seen an Alpha that made her heart fluttered like a teenage girl in love walking half-naked in the safe threshold of her home.

Caitlin whimpered. She was so doomed, wasn’t she?

“Cait?”

Caitlin immediately snapped her head up upon hearing her name being called and almost regretted it when she was given the first row show of his beautifully marred body as he stood in front of her, holding up the clothing she had prepared for her.

“Yes?” 

Caitin was so proud of herself that she managed to keep her cool and answered normally.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he asked, adorably clueless of her dilemma as he held up the shirt. “It’s Ronnie’s clothes. Are you really okay in lending them to me? I don’t want to impose….”

Caitlin smiled softly at his thoughtful words. Ronnie, her wonderful Beta…She still had his clothes lying around, and knowing her old love, she knew that Ronnie wouldn’t mind that she was moving on. He probably would be relieved that Caitlin was no longer mourning over him. And she wasn’t going to let Savitar walked around in yesterday’s clothing just because he hasn’t gotten around to do his laundry yet and going back to the West’s to retrieve Barry’s clothes had him scared stiff.

Caitlin really didn’t understand the West’s logics.

Internally scowling at the idea, she schooled her expression to assuring look and nodded at him. “I’m fine with it, Bas. And I’m sure Ronnie wouldn’t mind that his clothes been put to good use too,” she smiled, reaching a hand to pat his arm. “Now, go ahead and change. That’s enough strip show for me today.”

Savitar blinked at her before breaking into a genuine laughter. “Did I tempt you, Cait?” he prompted with a flirtatious wink.

Caitlin swore she saw his hips rolled all too seductively for a few seconds as he leered at her.

“I’m sorely tempted,” Caitlin exaggerated a groan and rolled her eyes when he laughed at her response.

He then disappeared into her room, only to flash back to her the next second, fully dressed now. He pulled the chair in front of her and mumbled a grateful thank you as she handed him his coffee.

“So, what’s your plan for today?” Caitlin asked after a good five minutes of silence with their respective coffee.

“Umm?” He raised his head, mismatched eyes blinked adorably at her. “Dunno. Yesterday, I received the legal documents from Felicity, so I guess I’d start job-hunting? I couldn’t live off Barry like a parasite.”

“You do realise that he said that he would divide all of his inheritance—both Eobard’s wealth and the ones he got from your rich distant uncle, the Smythe’s—with you, right?” Caitlin interjected. “You don’t have to instantly go to job-hunting. Have a few more days of rest, get used to your current sight. You’re blind in one eye. Your sight is impaired and need some time to get used to it.”

Savitar went silent and Caitlin narrowed her eyes in suspicion when his mismatched eyes lowered dejectedly.

“Barry didn’t remember much of what had happened in this timeline,” he explained, sipping calmly on his coffee. “Apparently, I died in his original timeline, so I don’t think that he even remembered anything he had said to me.”

“I can remind him,” Caitlin grinned, a bit malicious for her usual nature, her eyes twinkled dangerously.

He guffawed at her expression. “You’re scary, Dr.Snow.”

“Only when I need to be,” she hummed, bringing her coffee up again to sip on it.

“Speaking of my eye, do you think coloured contacts would be able to make it look somewhat normal?”

She almost spat her coffee out. 

She did choke though, swallowing the scorching hot drink before she couldn’t hold it anymore and spluttered as she coughed. He was by her side in a flash, one hand gently rubbed down her back while the other held her hair up just in case if she threw up. She took a complete minute to recover, and by the time she had a control on her lungs again, he was already kneeling beside her, eyes looking up in concern.

“Cait?”

“There’s nothing abnormal about your eyes, Bas. There is no need for you to cover it up,” she growled, slipping into her Alpha tone again, this time on purpose, to challenge him.

Though, he just smiled fondly at her. He squeezed her knees once and gave her that irresistible smile again. “It’s not like that, Cait,” he assured. “Barry just texted me while I was in shower. He asked me if I’m okay if we were to divide the Flash’s duties between us, or if I don’t want to, he wanted to know if I’m okay on taking over his duties on Sunday. I was thinking…The cowl covered most of my scars but my blind eye would be noticeable. We don’t want anyone to assume that there are two Flash running around. And….,” his eyes softened fondly as he grinned up at Caitlin. “He wanted to spend his Sundays with Snart.”

Caitlin frowned. “They’re serious about their relationship?!”

“Seem like it,” Savitar hummed. “Not that surprising though. Back then, before Zoom went batshit crazy and before Snart boarded the Waverider, I have already had a steady friendship with him,” he added with a fond melancholic smile. Squaring his shoulders, he looked up at Caitlin and said, “I always thought Snart as that jerk big brother I never had…,” he hunched his shoulder sheepishly when Caitlin stared wide-eyed at him, “or a really horrible best friend,” he sighed. “I know you guys won’t approve, so that’s why I didn’t say anything. But they aren’t half-bad. The Snarts, I mean,” he added, more defensive this time. “I see the good in him, Cait. He sees the bad in me. It’s a symbiotic relationship. He helped me with my depression and all of my stupid mental issues, I helped him to see the good in him.”

Caitlin’s mind kicked into motion the moment she heard his confession. Depression? Mental issues? Why had she never noticed these? None of their team ever mentioning that Barry suffered any issues! She pressed a palm over his scarred cheek, tilting his face up and tried really hard to not spiral down to the guilt that threatened to pull her into the depth of self-blame. She never noticed. What a horrible friend she was, to both versions of Barry Allen.

“You suffered depression?” her voice was trembling, and he must have noticed it because he was smiling that assuring smile again, his wider hands squeezed hers as if he was comforting her.

“Nothing serious,” he assured, but she wasn’t convinced. “It’s just how Len named it. And we know that Len loves to exaggerate stuffs,” he rolled his eyes, although Caitlin wasn’t convinced. Looking at Snart’s record, she knew that the thief won’t be taking such things lightly. Though, Savitar didn’t notice the change of her expressions and continued to ramble on. “Lisa called it ‘moping’ and for some reasons always forces me to drink hot cocoa while she bundles me up in blankets and coddles me until I was able to calm down and think clearly,” he blushed and cringed, perhaps in embarrassment at the memories, although his voice was firmer when he continued on. “It helped, but to be honest, I was just being stupid and weak. I’m a superhero. I’m lucky enough to have loving family and friends. I have no reason to be sad or depressed or losing sleep just because I’m not fast enough to save everyone,” he let out a deep sigh. “My mom, Eddie, Ronnie, the real Dr.Wells and his wife, Bette, Nimbus, Simmons, our evil doppelgangers from Earth 2 and so many other lives—all of them died because of me. Doesn’t matter that they didn’t die in my hands, but I’m the main cause of their death,” he shrugged and smiled sheepishly at her. “Sometimes the thought was too much that I was angry at everything, getting nightmares every night that I couldn’t sleep…or I got stupid enough to consider suicide.”

Caitlin felt her heart broke.

She wasn’t planning on it but the next thing she knew, she has knelt on the floor in front of him, her chair toppled to the floor with a loud thud as she wrapped her arms round his neck tight, burying her face into his hair and mumbling apologies over and over again. She didn’t notice. She never noticed that Barry carried so much on his shoulders. And to think that he thought he was stupid to suffer all of that just because he was lucky to live in a good condition with loving friends and family…

Caitlin felt no more reason to be mad at Barry.

“Hey, Cait?” Savitar squirmed in her hold and laughed sheepishly when she held him tighter. “Don’t tell me that you’re going all Lisa on me? Come on! I’m twenty-seven. I’m too old to be coddled and babied!”

Oh, god. The thought that the Snarts—the well-known criminals hunted by all legal bodies on Earth—were the ones who noticed his problems and helped Barry didn’t help to comfort Caitlin’s guilt at all.

Caitlin tightened her hug once before letting go, though she did keep her palms on his cheeks. “Promise me, something?” she whispered and when he seemed like he wanted to retort and deny her worries, she added, “ _please_. Promise me that if you have those problems again, you’re going to tell me? No matter what time, in what condition, you’re going to tell me if you feel down again, okay?”

He stared at her for a long time before sighing in defeat. “Okay. I promise.”

Caitlin smiled, and before she could stop herself, she planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

He blinked and flushed slightly, thus invoking the same blush on her cheeks.

“Thank you, Caitlin,” he smiled, fingers seemed to subconsciously stroke the part where she had kissed him. “Although, I think Barry had it worse. Snart and Barry…They told me that they weren’t friends in his original timeline, so Barry must have been all alone to go through that,” he winced, face twisted to a horrified grimace. “Don’t know if I could survive that. I have Len and Lisa as safe haven. I don’t know if he has anyone…”

Caitlin grimaced.

There went her will to maintain her anger towards Barry. Thrown right out of the metaphorical window.

Though, before she could respond, there was a loud annoying ring of her doorbell. They both winced at the noise, and she rushed to answer the door, only to be stunned shocked at her door. The newcomer huffed, pulling off her sunglasses and blonde wig as she invited herself in, only stopping when she noticed Savitar who was still on the floor. A sardonic smirk then graced her face.

“There you are, Jailbait. Glad that you’re here with Ms.Up-tight. I need to talk with both of you.”

 

=====================================================================================

 

“Did she—?” Savitar sputtered as he closed the door, eyes blinking furiously in disbelief.

“Yes, Bas, _yes_. Golden Glider just hugged you and petted your head all the while calling you her sweet darling,” Caitlin giggled, planting her hands on his back as she pushed his stunned body back to her living room. “I thought you’re used to being coddled by her?”

“Well, that was when she is not mad at me!”

“She is mad at Barry. Not _you_.”

“But—”

“I guess you do have to divide the Flash’s duties with Barry now,” she hummed, and Savitar narrowed her eyes as Caitlin giggled even louder. She was having too much fun with this and he found it terrifying. “Glider seemed serious when she said she’s going to gold us all if Barry didn’t have the time to spend with Snart. So I guess a schedule for Flash’s duties is in order? Or even superhero duties? I do think Savitar would make a good superhero name and the criminals would think thrice before causing troubles in this city if they know that there are two superheroes in charge.”

Savitar scowled at her. “You’re enjoying this waaay too much.”

“I am,” Caitlin giggled. “It’s fun to have another female Alpha who thinks the same as me.”

“It’s not fun. She basically just threatened to turn us to gold statues if Snart showed the slightest hint of displease,” Savitar tried to reprimand her, although half-heartedly because he knew that despite the exchange of insults and mockery, the building friendship between both Alpha females was based on a strong foundation of comradeship of same life principle. “I dread the day both of you teamed up to defend Snart and traumatize the city in the same time.”

“If I have ice power, maybe we could team up~” Caitlin giggled again, this time she spun to stand in front of him, giving him the biggest grin he had ever seen graced her face.

“Frost and Golden Glider….,” he mocked a horrified tone, although the fond smile did tug on the corners of his lips. “My condolences to all sexist Alphas in Central. May you all rest in peace.”

She laughed upon his words and hurried to grab their coats and her purse, handing Savitar his dark trench coat before rushing him out. She locked the door behind her, hands grabbing his own as she pulled him towards the elevator. After Lisa’s impromptu visit, it was decided that they were going to go run their errands together.

She also promised to put good words for him if there was still an opening at Mercury Labs after she left her position there.

Savitar merely smiled and followed her steps—it was a refreshing sight, to see this carefree side of her, so he wasn’t complaining.

They stopped by at the precinct first, because there was no knowing when Barry and Snart would get out of their love hole (Lisa’s words, not Savitar’s) and someone needed to alert the captain that Barry was on a proper leave and not being tardy. 

Savitar was nervous and slightly terrified to enter the precinct. He kept his gaze low on the ground as Caitlin fussed with her handbag, looking for appropriate doctoral form they usually gave out when someone wanted to take a mating leave. She has taken the effort to apply for proper doctoral license, and although she didn’t open her own clinic, her words were as legal as normal doctors.

The fact that people had connected the dots regarding her kidnapping and the idea that she may be the Flash’s doctor too had made her words even hard to antagonize.

“Found it!” Caitlin cheered as she took out the form from her handbag, the exact moment the elevator slid open.

Savitar felt his heartbeats picked up again as they entered the main area, the hair at the back of his neck raised in fear when he felt Joe’s glare been directed at him. Joe wasn’t a fan of him, despite Barry’s stubbornness on defending him and that man was still convinced that like all the doppelgangers on Earth 2, Savitar would one day kill Barry to claim his identity.

As if that would easily happen, now that the whole staffs of Jitters already known him as Barry’s twin brother. There was no way he could kill Barry and got away with Barry’s identity just like that.

But, Joe was a stubborn man that would do anything to protect his children.

Savitar hunched slightly at the idea, trying hard to compose his face at the thought that Joe no longer saw him as his son.

It hurt. He still loved Joe like his own father, Wally and Iris like his own blood-siblings.

It hurt so much.

“ALLEN!!”

Savitar jumped and almost dropped his files, finally being snapped out of his thoughts as Singh’s voice bellowed loudly across the room. It took him a full minute and a gentle squeeze from Caitlin to remind him that he was no longer Barry Allen, and Singh wasn’t about to literally chew his head off for being terribly late. Singh never met Sebastian Allen. Singh didn’t know him. He wasn’t about to get scolded, and that wasn’t Singh storming at him like the captain was about to blow his head off, _oh god oh god ohgodohgodohgodohgod—_

“Allen!! What the hell are you—” Singh’s voice trailed softer as he gawked at Savitar’s face, finally taking in the scars and the blinded eye. “What happened to you?” the question came out softer, laced with concern and worries.

Savitar gaped, mind went blank at the unexpected turn of events.

“Hello, Captain Singh,” Caitlin stepped in, her voice a bit too cheerful for her usual demeanor. “This is Sebastian Allen,” she gestured at Savitar. “Barry’s twin brother,” she smiled nervously as Singh’s eyes narrowed to appraise Savitar. “I’m sure that you have _never_ met him before. He just woke up from coma two weeks ago. The late Dr. Wells took him into STARlabs’ care a week after we took Barry in. He was caught in wildfire after the explosion.”

Singh stared at Savitar for a long time, long enough to make Savitar sweated nervously.

“Allen never mentioned any brother,” the captain finally said, suspicion dripping in his voice. “Neither does Joe.”

“His condition was worse than Barry,” Caitlin lied smoothly. “Third degree burn over half of his body and multiple organs failure from being crushed under heavy pillars. I think Barry doesn’t want to cling to hope, when we all thought that Bas won’t be able to survive.”

“No one ever mentioned you before,” Singh raised an eyebrow, still skeptical above all. “Even after Joe adopted Allen.”

“I went into the system and get adopted by a distant relative,” Savitar answered automatically, a well-rehearsed story they crafted for this exact situation. “They cut off all relationships with my real family. Said that I should not be held back by a murderer of a father and a brother that might a bit crazy,” he shrugged, trying to feign nonchalant and acted normal, although he wasn’t sure that he was being convincing. “I never knew that my brother is still alive until I met him at the particle accelerator’s launching event.”

“And Dr.Wells took him into his care because he wanted to keep an eye on all Nora Allen’s sons, I assume?” Singh asked, seemingly less wary now. “He did murder your mother, so I guess he was keeping tabs on both of you?”

“Maybe,” Savitar settled on neutral answer, knowing that this might be a trap question. There was no way for a normal human being to catch up on everything that had happened after being woken up from coma literally two weeks ago. “I just woke up two weeks ago. I’m still wrapping my head around the crazies that is happening around here. Perhaps Barry have the answer for your question, captain.”

Okay, that sound good enough. He shouldn’t know too much of his mother’s murderer. That answer was vague enough right?

His answer seemed to satisfy Singh though. The man gave him a smile before his face turned stern. “Where is your brother? He is supposedly to come in at nine. It’s almost lunch and if he wants to keep his job, you better tell him to come in—”

“Ah, about that, Captain Singh…,” Caitlin interjected, thrusting the forms towards the captain. “Due to unexpected twist of destiny and fate, Barry is on a legal mating leave. Here is the form,” she smiled a saccharine smile at the captain when he frowned at her. “It’s actually illegal and a violation of his rights if you were to fire him while he was on his mating leave. I’m sorry, captain, but you will have to survive without Barry for a few days.”

Savitar side-eyed Caitlin. 

She was enjoying this waaay too much. Perhaps he should be concerned on letting her befriending Lisa after all?

“Mating?!” Singh huffed in disbelief, eyes scanning the form before he let out a deep sigh. “Great. Just what I needed. Speak about bad timing…,” he muttered to himself.

“Bad timing?” Caitlin interrupted, eyes alert now. “Is there something wrong, captain? Meta-attacks?”

Singh shook his head and gave her that schooled politic smile. “No. Not yet, at least,” he sighed. “With the news of the Flash being mated, naturally everyone assumed that our resident hero wouldn’t be up to save the day while he has his mate to think about. We’re concerned that some bad people might take advantage of that. In addition to that, the CSI specialist from Britain we secured to assist Allen isn’t coming due to personal matters. And now Allen is on mating leave too. Speak about timing. If anyone is to cause troubles, normal CSI wouldn’t be able to process the scene as fast as him.”

Savitar raised an eyebrow. “You seem to think highly of Barry’s ability.”

Singh gave him a half-fond half-exasperated smile. “Why do you think I haven’t fired your brother yet? He is too valuable of an asset to let go. We would take thrice longer the time needed to solve a case without him around.”

Savitar’s eyes widened. He didn’t know that.

Singh coughed. “Don’t tell him I said that. Young kids like him doesn’t need any ego-boosts.”

Caitlin snorted. Then, her eyes suddenly brightened in deviousness.

Savitar sweatdropped.

He didn’t like that look.

That look was so much like Lisa’s when she was planning a horrible prank on Len.

“Captain Singh?” Caitlin called, voice too sweet that it would’ve gave cavities to the whole city.

“Yes, Dr.Snow?”

“From what you told us, you’re lacking on-site CSI, moreover now Barry is on leave?”

“Yes. We planned to give Barry a partner, and assigned him to meta-related cases, since Barry has connections with you at STARlabs and the Flash. His partner would handle all the non-meta cases.”

“But the assigned partner isn’t coming?”

“No. He decided to stay in London with his sister. Bad timing all over.”

Caitlin’s grin could rival that of a Cheshire cat.

“May I recommend someone?”

Savitar glared at her, before darting a worried gaze in Joe’s direction. There was a reason he avoided the precinct! Joe would be even more hostile to him if he tried to imitate Barry. And oh god, now Joe was indeed glaring at him. He nervously tugged on the edge of Caitlin’s coat, but she pointedly ignored him and proceeded to speak in that sweet voice again.

Yep. Caitlin Snow and Lisa Snart should never be allowed to become friends. They were bad influences on each other.

“Who do you have in mind, Dr. Snow?” 

Oh dear speedforce. Singh sounded desperate. So desperate, that Savitar wouldn’t doubt that whoever Caitlin recommended, the captain would hire that person in a heartbeat.

“Him,” Caitlin said cheerfully, tugging on Savitar’s sleeves a bit too hard that he stumbled to her side. “Although they were separated for years, twins are twins. Bas graduated with double degrees in Performing Arts and Forensic Science. He has no experience in forensic field, because he went straight to stage performance after graduation, but with Barry’s help and your guidance, I think he would be a great CSI,” she said and basically wrestled his files from his hands to hand it to the captain. “You can see it for yourself. He is on par with Barry, academically speaking.”

Singh browsed through Savitar’s resume and files, before stopping at one certificate that Barry never used, despite the school being gracious enough to grant him double certificates for both his real name and the name he used while living under the care of his distant uncle.

Bless his genius head, but even the schools—both Dalton Academy and Central High—were in cahoots with his high school split personality crisis.

Both schools wanted a genius like him to be their mascot of education.

(And Central High felt that his transfer to Dalton due to the constant bullying was their fault and wanted to make amends by offering long-distance classes so that he could graduate as their alumni too.)

(Why both schools insisted to want him as their alumni was a mystery up till now.)

“You played lacrosse?” Singh asked, eyeing Savitar in disbelief.

“I was the captain during sophomore and senior years,” Savitar answered meekly.

“And it stated here that you participated in martial arts too,” Singh looked thoughtful.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Not good. Singh was honestly considering him for the job. Nuh-uh. Not good.

_Caitlin, what have you done….._

Joe would hate him even more if he got the same job as Barry.

If only they knew that Dalton Academy practically forced him to enter those extra-curricular activities just because he was their golden genius boy and they wanted him as the mascot of well-rounded student. By no way that means that he was strong and badass. Lacrosse wasn’t hard when coupled with his lean gangly physique and Aikido was a martial art that use his opponent’s force to defend himself, all the while protecting his own opponents from any injuries, and that was the biggest weapon against a bully—something his coach continuously told him every time he wanted to give up.

Savitar jumped when Singh closed his files with a loud flap.

“Can you come in after lunch? We’ll have someone from the main team to guide you around,” Singh said, smiling warily at him and Caitlin. “Unless if he is not yet up to work, Dr.Snow? I’m sure you’re the one in charge of his physical health?”

“He is fully healed, captain,” Caitlin chirped happily. “Although, he is not yet used to his impaired sight but I doubt it would meddle much with his works,” she pursed her lips for a moment before adding, like an afterthought, “and he isn’t up to extremely strenuous activity. Muscles dystrophy of two-years coma had an impact on his motor ability, but it will be gone with time.”

Singh sighed in relief before giving Savitar a hopeful gaze.

“Can you come in after lunch? Or do you want to come in tomorrow?”

_Can I not come in at all?_

Although he was scared stiff with the way Joe was glaring at him, but Caitlin leant close to press the length of her arm against his side, her hand squeezed his own encouragingly and Savitar found his resistance died down as he silently nodded and said in a soft voice;

“I’ll come in after lunch.”

Captain Singh beamed at him.

“Welcome to CCPD, Allen.”

 

=====================================================================================

 

When Iris walked into Jitters with her assignment in tow, the first thing she felt when she saw Barry was anger.

The next thing she felt was guilt when she noticed that Barry was not _her_ Barry but instead the scarred time remnant.

Her father just called her earlier, telling that Sebastian had secured a job as Barry’s partner in the CSI department before he started ranting that he was right all along that the time remnant was trying to replace Barry and they should be concerned that Barry was suddenly mated and this was all Sebastian’s evil plan to get Barry out of picture.

Iris had hung up on him after that. Sometimes, her father was too ridiculous and stupid.

But, she was aware that she was at fault too. 

She hasn’t done anything to show that the time remnant was welcomed under their roof. There was no excuse she would make for herself. She had purposely created a distance between her and the time remnant for the first few days to give him some space to breathe and took in his new life. She didn’t want to rush or coddle him, something she learnt would only backfire because just like Barry, he would assume that she thought of him as weak and unreliable. It wasn’t like that. She was just giving him some time to breathe before started coddling him again.

She wasn’t expecting for her job to rush in, what with Zoom’s multiverse cannon made the front page, all the crazy meta-attacks from Earth-2 that required reporters to cover and so many things being piled on her all at once that she has no time other than giving the occasional smile and greetings to him as she drown in her work.

By the time she realized that he was scared stiff to return to her house without Barry there, she knew it was too late and he was convinced that she was on her father and Wally’s side against him.

Which was an incredibly stupid idea, by the way. Bas was just another version of their Barry, has Barry’s feelings and memories and no difference from the Barry they had loved. They shouldn’t isolate him like that.

With full intention of making amends and begging for forgiveness, she ordered his favourite dessert and took their orders from the barista as she made her way to their table. She plastered her bright smile on his face, placing the tray onto their table as they gaped at her.

“Do you mind if I join you?” she said, feeling the guilt again when he stared at her with a look of disbelief and wonder, as if hearing her talking to him was like a far-fetched dream come true.

“No, not at all,” Caitlin waved dismissively, gesturing to the third seat. “And thank you for bringing our orders.”

Iris did notice that Caitlin’s smile was a bit strained and wary, the doctor’s eyes darted nervously between her and Sebastian. She knew the reason behind that. Caitlin and Barry were literally the only people that had been nice towards Sebastian ever since the time remnant woke up. Hence, she pretended not to notice the tension that emitted from both of them and smiled gently in his direction.

“How are you, Bas?” she asked, and did her best to hide her wince when he spluttered, mismatched eyes widened in shock. “Right,” she sighed. “Should have expected that…I haven’t been very welcoming to you, am I?”

He hunched his shoulders and nodded sheepishly.

She tentatively reached out her hand to place over his and she squeezed once before letting go, all the while feeling the goosebumps of fear that was triggered by a burning gaze of a displeased Alpha from Caitlin’s direction. Right. Another thing she needed to get used to. Caitlin’s Alpha. She always thought that the doctor was a Beta all these time, but now the other female hardly hid her Alpha anymore.

“I would make no excuse, Bas. I was at fault,” Iris said, fighting against her instinct to cower when she felt Caitlin bristled. “I was planning to give you some time to breathe and adjust, but then work came up and I ditched you for my work—which is a horrible thing to do on my part. I should have known that you’d need family support right now and Barry alone won’t be enough,” she sighed but maintained her smile, taking in his shocked face with more guilt. “I’m really sorry….and I hope you could forgive me one day,” she squeezed his hand again. “And I want you to know that Joe and Wally are being stupid, and you’re very much welcomed to ignore their conspiracy theorists’ asses and come home any time you wanted. You’re a part of the family too.”

Iris felt a wash of relief when she no longer felt the angry Alpha aura from Caitlin’s direction. When she peeked a quick look at the doctor, Caitlin seemed very pleased and happy with her apologies while Bas seemed like he was on the verge of breaking to relieved tears. Iris hopped off her seat and stepped to his side, offering her arms open for a hug.

“Do you think I’m worthy enough for a hug?” she asked tentatively, but was pleasantly surprised when she was engulfed in a bear hug, her smaller body being crushed against his chest as he mumbled ‘thank you’ over and over again to her hair.

It broke her heart.

It was like he was so rejected that her simple action meant so much to him.

She exchanged a look with Caitlin and knew instantly that it was the exact case. Though, before she could say anything more, she froze in his embrace, eyes fixed to the woman behind him. The woman took of her sunglasses, heels clicking, blonde hair bounced like some hair commercial model as she made her way to their table.

Iris almost had a heart attack when Sebastian let her go, only to beam happily at the disguised Lisa Snart.

“Hey, Jailbait,” Lisa greeted, pulling Sebastian into her arms and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “Heard you got a job. Congrats.”

He laughed. “You’re a bad influence to Caitlin…”

Caitlin snorted. “She is not.”

“Oh, really….?” Lisa purred and Iris cringed at the way she was pawing on his chest. “What did Ms. Up-tight do?”

“I merely recommend him for an empty position at CCPD,” Caitlin said, sounding almost defensive.

“You’re strangely persistent about that,” Sebastian hummed before he smiled and impersonated the sun again. “But I’m grateful. I wouldn’t have the guts to do so if you didn’t encourage me.”

Iris felt a chill when both Lisa and Caitlin narrowed their eyes at her.

“Is it because of Detective West?” Lisa snarled, and Iris saw a glint of gold strapped to her thigh, hidden underneath her coat. She patted the time remnant’s arm gently. “Barry, hun, I didn’t throw all my badass-ness out of the window and coddle you with blankets and chocolates when you’re depressed just to give the chances to your own foster dad to throw you into the very same depression the moment one chaos ended.”

Iris blinked. “Wait, depression?”

Bas hunched his shoulders sheepishly. “She is exaggerating—”

“—I AM NOT.” Lis snarled, while Caitlin said firmly, “SHE IS NOT.”

Iris stared at both women. “Explain,” she hissed and pointed one finger at him when he wanted to retort. “And you, shut up.”

Caitlin exchanged a look with Lisa before they shook their heads simultaneously. “Not now,” Caitlin said and added before Iris could even protest. “When it’s just the three of us.”

“Oh, come on….It wasn’t even that serious…”

“Bear, hun, you were considering suicide,” Lisa hissed. “You were depressed enough to pick a fight with me while I still know you as your alter ego and purposely aimed for me to gold you to death. If Lenny wasn’t there, you would have succeeded.”

Iris was horrified. “When did this happened?”

“After the sky turn polka dotty and a motherfucking wormhole appeared on the sky,” Lisa huffed, glaring angrily at Sebastian. “I may hate your alter-ego, kid, but I love that nerdy Jailbait who is so warm and nice and soft to hug.”

Iris frowned. “Since when did you get all cuddly with Lisa Snart?”

Sebastian blanched while Lisa huffed.

“When I started to really care about him? Not long ago, if I recall it right. Just a few months after I discover that he genuinely like befriending Lenny and has no ulterior motives,” Lisa said with a thoughtful frown. “Although I only know that you’re the Flash yesterday, after I golded your doppelganger. Made the connection that you’re not Barry Allen’s twin after all, since his power is that freaky and everything that creating a doppelganger wasn’t even a stretch.”

That had Iris on full alert mode. “You hurt Barry?!”

“To be fair, he deserved it,” Caitlin interjected, sipping calmly on her drinks and Iris stared at her with betrayal painted all over her face. “Don’t look at me like that, Iris. He raped Snart. Lisa has all the rights to be angry.”

Iris’ jaw slacked open in shock.

Lisa sighed. “Too bad my brother didn’t share the sentiment. He is so whipped to the other Barry…”

“Can you two stops doing that? And can you call me with my current alias, please…? We’re in public.”

He was pointedly being ignored by both female Alphas.

“Did Snart protect him?”

“Yep. Even went far to use his persuasion power on me. That asshole of a brother.”

“Persuasion power?”

“Something he learnt to do after his first heat. Saved his ass a lot from getting raped. Apparently, Alphas are susceptible to become victims to his persuasion.”

“That is…. _interesting_ …”

“Right? I wouldn’t even mind if you wanna study him for that. It always freaked me out that no Alpha is safe from following his orders when that happen.”

“Guess there is no helping it? They both are serious with their relationship?”

“Oh gosh, you have no idea. Jailbait literally asked Lenny out right in front of me. The nerves of that kid…”

Iris watched in disbelief when Caitlin and Lisa scooted closer to each other, shoulders hunched as they lowered their voices to conspiring whispers. Sebastian sighed and tried to get their attention again, tugging both on Lisa’s and Caitlin’s sleeves.

“Guyssss…We’re in public. Can you please stop talking about this?” He whined desperately, before shooting Iris a look that begged for help.

Iris shrugged, shook her head and sipped on her drink. She wasn’t going to jump in between two conspiring Alphas. Independent Omega or not, she knew where she should draw the line. Plus, she has something more pressing that demanded for her attention;

Barry and Snart.

From what she could understand; Barry had committed a heinous crime, Lisa had punished him for that and now both Barry and Snart were in lovey-dovey relationship—which wasn’t the most surprising thing here because Iris knew that Barry had a soft spot on Snart.

The only thing she didn’t know was the extent the soft spot went.

And it seemed she won’t be able to physically punish Barry too. If Lisa had already had a go with Barry, Iris doubted that she would even have the heart to hit her dearest adoptive brother. The gold gun was dangerous and caused a horrible damage if it came in contact with bare skin. Barry must have been hurt so badly.

Despite that, Iris still wanted to have a revenge on him for keeping her out of loop, _again_.

Really! Lisa freaking Snart knows that he mated with Captain Cold and he wouldn’t even want to text her a quick message so that she could have a heads up on her next headline?

“Hey, Bas, hun,” Iris heard Lisa cooed and had to cringe at the idea that she somehow owed the Snart siblings for taking care of Barry when they all didn’t notice that he was depressed.

“Um, yeah?”

“If Detective West is giving you trouble at work while Barry is on his mating leave, ring me up babe,” Iris blinked at her offer but smiled grimly when Lisa turned her head to give a saccharine grin at her. “I assure you Ms.West, there would be no harm that would go to your father. But I will prank him so bad he would suffer the effect for weeks if he was being not nice to my space-heater here.”

Iris wondered why she didn’t find that threat concerning and why the heck she was actually smiling at Lisa. “Be my guest, Lisa.”

Yep. Even she has gone crazy and liking it.

Iris watched as Sebastian sighed and banged his head to the table, all the while he was mumbling in horror. “It’s glitter bomb, isn’t it? You’re going to glitter bomb Joe, aren’t you? Just like you glitter bombed Len last time. Oh my god, you’re going to glitter bomb the precinct. Glitters would be everywhere. Shit, shit, shit….”

Lisa grinned. “All that glitters~”

Caitlin giggled.

Iris decided that Lisa Snart wasn’t so bad after all. 

Then, an idea struck her mind and she started to cackle evilly as she took out her laptop and started typing away. Caitlin and Lisa curiously peeked over her shoulders as she typed her revenge out, before both Alphas cracked into devious giggles—Caitlin pressed her face to Iris’ shoulders to muffle her laughter while Lisa smiled approvingly at the reporter.

“I like your thinking, Ms. West,” Lisa hummed.

Sebastian’s face slowly paled.

“Am I good enough to be your partner-in-crime?” Iris grinned.

All blood left Sebastian’s face when Lisa nodded.

Iris gave him the sweetest smile she could muster. 

“Oh, fuck.”

His horrified whisper only serve to invoke louder giggles from all three females.

 

=====================================================================================

 

_Later that night…._

Oliver was doing push-ups without any care to the world, only to halt his training regime when he noticed that his den was too quiet.

He looked up and saw Felicity had strangely stopped typing her merry way on her keyboards and was slouched on her chair, eyes staring at the ceiling, lips pursed in thoughtful look.

Oliver had a hunch that he shouldn’t be asking what was on her mind but he was curious.

“What are you thinking about, Felicity?” he asked, standing now as he reached for the bottle on the table next to her.

“Have you ever thought what Barry sandwich would feel like?”

He dropped the bottle.

“WHAT?!”

Nope. Nope. Nope. Not this again.

Felicity has the balls to shrug and pout at him. “There is an anon tip on Iris’ blog. Someone from CCPD said that their CSI suspiciously went on a mating leave the exact time the Flash gotten himself a mate. They said that since the Flash had a connection with STARlabs and the CSI literally owned STARlabs, they thought it was lined up,” she fluttered her lashes at his gaping face. “The rumours right now said that the Flash’s mate is the CSI of CCPD who owned STARlabs, aka, the Flash’s headquarters.”

Oliver’s jaw slacked open. “Felicity, are you implying that Barry fucked his… _time remnant_?”

“They’re both cute. And Barry is a bisexual. Back during his time in Dalton, he exclusively dated Alphas only. Plus, speedsters have insatiable libido. I honestly thought that they’re a cute match,” Felicity shrugged, completely oblivious to the fact that Oliver was trying hard to get rid of the images of Barry and Sebastian in a hot steamy mating session.

Nope nope nope nope. The night was too cold for these images.

“That is impossible,” Oliver said, almost too shakily. “Barry can’t mate his time remnant…His own _self_. That’s just…”

Fucked up? Narcissistic? Wrong?

Oliver has no words.

But damn those images in his head was getting even steamier and god, why the fuck was he imagining how Barry’s moans would sound like???

“But he is the only one on Earth that could take the phrase _‘fuck yourself_ ’ in a literal way!” Felicity whined.

Oh, jesus…Barry’s sweet, sweet, moans….

“That is wrong. Barry wouldn’t do that.”

“But, Olllliiiiiieeee,” she whined. “Just imagine what Barry sandwich would feel like? Vibrating speedsters sandwiching you—” Felicity halted when Oliver broke his own bow before dropping the broken weapon onto the floor. “Ollie?”

“I’m moving to Gotham.”

And with that, Oliver stormed away to get his well-deserved ice cold shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally not Joe-bashing here but I honestly thought that he was too over-bearing in the show. I could totally see this happening. And who is surprised that Iris isn't actually hostile to Savitar?
> 
> And I honestly think that Barry is very vulnurable to depression and anger issue, with all the shits he had to put up ever since becoming the Flash. Too bad I don't see anyone actually paying attention to his mental health in the show. They only started paying attention when they thought he would endanger them (like how they locked him up in prison without talking it out with him first--I think that was a douche move).
> 
> And I think I have to remind this again, but I am a fan of Glee. And since Grant Gustin played the character Sebastian Smythe remarkably well, I couldn't help but incorporate that into Savitar's new backstory. Sorry if anyone that doesn't follow the show is a bit confused. Here's my favourite compilation of Sebastian Smythe --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7aIRJn5EZ0
> 
> Like usual, comments and feedbacks are like Len and his puns. It made my day.


	8. "Savitar, the God of Speed" - Lisa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sweet honeymoon mood of the heat ended and Len completely came to terms with his new predicament. Barry may or may not had a problems with reporters, stalkers and fujoshi fans. Savitar and Barry bonded as brothers.
> 
> Also, no one should let Lisa and Caitlin befriend each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure that this is the longest chapter I have written for this story so far. And I may or may not still hung up on my new guilty pleasure ship BarryXSavitar; which I tried to avoid because it will deviate from the storyline I have for this one. Though, I'm digging their current relationship.
> 
> There's a lot of bullshit science in this chapter, so just pretend that it made sense okay? I didn't even pay attention in my science classes, and to create this bullshit science, it took a lot of thinking from me, okay? XD
> 
> As per usual, this is un-betaed, so please forgive any errors. Happy reading!

The moment Len woke up with a clear mind that instantly thinking to plan heist, Len knew that it was the end of his heat.

Or, what Lisa kept texting him, his honeymoon week with Flash Flashy Sparky McBoyfriend.

God saved his future nephews and nieces. His sister couldn’t name things for shit.

Or maybe Cisco could save the day. 

Though, Len still cringed at the idea of having nephews or nieces with cheesy geeky names.

Len rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and rolled over, only to held in his urge to sneeze when his nose was buried into the soft tuff of messy brown hair. Len instantly backed away, propping his body up to take in the sight of his slumbering…mate. Barry was half-naked, as was Len, as they only wore their underwear to sleep ever since they have come to terms that they would try this dating thing.

The question was, did Len really wanted to date Barry? Or was that his heat hormones talking?

Len’s eyes fell to the way Barry was clinging to his waist, trying to seek within his mind if there really was something akin of feelings inside him for the kid. In his original timeline, Barry was nothing more than a speeding nuisance—

—who pushed Len to up his game, an unwanted encouragement for him to be better.

The kid also was a reckless idiot—

—who always gave Len mini heart-attacks whenever he read in newspaper or watched in news and saw that the speedster just faced a horrible danger.

Bleh, that only meant that Len didn’t want to lose a worthy opponent. Barry was annoyingly sincere and hopeful every time he pulled ‘there’s good in you’ speech that honestly irritated Len—

—and made him wonder whether he could be a better man, someone that won’t embarrass Barry—

Shit. Mick was right, wasn’t he? Even in his original timeline, he really did have a budding crush on the speedster, a bud of love he snipped dead on the early stage because he knew he was too old, too broken, too scarred and was nothing but a piece of trash when compared to the golden hero of Central City, the scarlet speedster.

Except that time, he was only crushing on the Flash. 

He never bothered to try to know Barry Allen. 

Barry Allen, who carried emotional baggage as bad and horrible as Len’s own. Barry Allen, who witnessed the murder of his own mother right in front of his eyes. Barry Allen, who has to endure pitying looks while been called a crazy kid for stating the truth. Barry Allen, who cried every night for a whole year because he knew that his father was wrongly imprisoned. Barry Allen, who snuck out and ran across town to visit his father in Iron Heights at young age of eleven. Barry Allen, who created a fake field trip at the age of thirteen, complete with fake permission slip that he made Detective West signed so that he could venture hundreds of miles to Gotham to investigate an unexplainable case. Barry Allen, who was bullied so badly in high school that he created a completely different personality that almost as bad as his own bullies. Barry Allen, who took multiple degrees at once because he needed something to occupy his mind so that he didn’t fuck up his future by travelling round the world to solve unexplained cases. Barry Allen, who graduated with first class honours for multiple degrees yet still being teased and looked down on. Barry Allen, who was pining over his own adoptive sister for most of his life, only to have his heart being crushed over and over again that it took him years to try to move on and dated someone else.

Barry Allen, who was nothing like his perfect alter ego—nothing like the heroic golden boy of Central City.

Barry Allen, who was a survivor—the broken boy that never lost the glow of his halo, despite the darkness fate threw his way, despite the losses he had suffered, despite the betrayals thrown to his face, despite the weight of multiverse on his shoulders—

—he survived, bleeding heart still pure gold in his sleeve.

Shit, Len may be a bit poetic this too early morning, but there was nothing that his mind could conjure that could deny the glaring fact that Barry Allen was a survivor. 

A strong one at that.

And Len was a sucker for survivors. 

Hence, the next question. 

Was Len enough? Could Len ever be good enough for this strong survivor?

He had no time to ponder because Barry decided to stir right at that moment, green eyes fluttered open while the soft lips curled to a lazy sleepy smirk. The speedster stared fondly at him, before he seemed to realize something. His eyes cleared, gazing at Len nervously, although Len did notice the flicker of emotion—that dare he say it, resembled hope—as his grip on Len’s waist tightened, seemingly not wanting to let Len go.

“Hello, Captain Cold?” Barry greeted tentatively, hands trembling.

Len smirked. “Morning, Scarlet,” he drawled, dragging the syllables in the familiar fashion of Captain Cold’s speech.

Barry smiled weakly, the reluctance was obvious when he released Len’s waist. “I guess you want me out of your hair now?”

Len has so many ways to respond to that, most of them include really horrible puns or an asshole kind of reply but he settled to the neutral one, that would even be funny if Barry still have his sense of humour somewhere inside there.

“What hair, Scarlet? If you notice, I’m very close to achieve perfect baldness like Mick.”

He wanted to try this. Wanted to try to have Barry Allen and whatever their bright future would be, if Giddy was right.

God, he actually has an AI as a daughter with Scarlet. 

How could he even want to lose this? He has already fallen in love with Giddy, acknowledged her as his daughter, wanting her to be a constant variable in his life—

—along with her creator slash father.

He wanted them in his life. In the previous timeline, he would burn the hope before it could even bud, but now, he thought that something of a higher power was trying to tell him to give it a shot—to _try_.

And he wasn’t even religious to begin with. Huh.

Barry snorted at his response, although the tensed edge was there in his shoulders. What had made the speedster so nervous and edgy? Was it the knowledge that Len had no longer viewed him with lost puppy’s eyes now that the effect of the heat has gone?

“Snart…”

“ _Len_.”

Barry startled, eyes blinking with hope. “I can call you that?”

Len rolled his eyes. “I thought we had establish that last week?”

“But that was—”

“I won’t back away, Scarlet,” Len cut him off. He averted his gaze, eyeing his cold gun instead of looking into Barry’s hopeful eyes. “I want to try this. _Us_. I want to see what kind of future I would have with you,” he tilted his head to glance at Barry, lips curling to a smirk. “Unless _you_ want to back out?”

Barry instantly shook his head. “This is not your heat talking, right?” he prompted, voice shaking, eyes fixed to the mark on Len’s neck.

“Nope,” Len huffed, voice firm and absolute. “I’m not in the mood to fuck right now,” he added with a lazy smirk before raising his hand as if he was swearing an oath; “with sane mind and body, I, Leonard Snart, want to try to date you, Bartholomew Allen.”

Barry laughed and pounced onto him, causing them both to tumble across the bed. Len tensed at the sudden weight on his chest—he wasn’t used to this, his mind screamed for him to get into defense. This man was holding him down—just like the cocky bastards in juvie, just like Lewis, just like his first partner who betrayed him—this man was going to kill him, no no no nonononono _DEFEND YOURSELF!!!_ —

And Barry instantly let go, rolling over to sit next to Len, hands raised up in front of his chest as if he was showing Len that he meant no harm.

Len frowned. There, it happened again.

Why did Barry seem to know exactly what Len was feeling?

“Scarlet?”

Barry blinked adorably. “Yes?”

“Have you developed mind-reading ability too after you fucked the timeline?”

Len narrowed his eyes when Barry winced. Great. Something had happened since the past few days that Scarlet seemed to not want to tell him. What was it? He was wired to Len that he knew what’s inside Len’s mind? He could read Len’s mind? Bah, that’s ridiculous—

“When I marked you…I kinda created a form of bond that let me know what you’re feeling…,” Barry said softly, shoulders tensed and body already poised to run. “It’s sort of impossible for you to lie to me now…?”

Len blinked, taking in deep breaths at the knowledge of losing his ability to lie. It surprised him that he took the knowledge in with calmness he didn’t even expect he was capable of having. He lied to survive, all these years had made him to a pathological liar, lying was his favourite form of defense and now Scarlet was saying that Len couldn’t lied to him?

Len’s trigger finger twitched.

“Scarlet….,” he said, eyes squeezed shut as his hands reached to the bedside table.

Barry winced but responded regardless. “Got it. 10 seconds of head start before you start another Ice Age.”

Len’s eyes snapped open. How did Scarlet…?

Barry got up and was about to flash away when he suddenly halted at the open entrance. “Len?” he tentatively asked, eyes staring at Len with confusion.

Shit, the kid could really read his mind.

Len sighed and got up from the bed. “Make sure that breakfast’s ready by the time I done washing up and I might consider to _only_ ice the yard.”

“Oh,” Barry breathed, voice relieved. “Sure.”

And he was gone with trails of lightning, leaving Len in the small room. He walked up to the console and pressed his palm over the control, feeling a sense of comfort when the console whirred to life and Gideon appeared.

“Giddy,” he started, voice a bit strained.

“Yes, Daddy?”

Len felt the tug of smile at the corners of his lips when the AI chirped adorably. He loved his daughter so much.

“Do I really love your father?” he asked, hesitating a bit. “Does he really love _me_?”

Len didn’t know why, but he really need to know.

Giddy hummed, and when Len looked up to her, he saw the fond smile on her holographic face. She shifted to full-body hologram and placed one holographic hand over his cheek.

“We asked you a lot,” she started, smiling wider, though there was a hint of sadness and longing in her smile. “My siblings and I, we asked both of you this question a lot….”

Len tensed. “And what was our answer?”

If it was just a common expression of love or god forbid, the ‘till death do us apart’ shit, Len thought it would not ease his doubt. Both of he and Barry had cheated death before. Both of them had travelled through time and ventured to different universes. Common expression of love wasn’t enough—

“You two are so sappy and cringe-worthy,” Giddy snorted but before Len could even say anything, her console whirred and she disappeared. 

Len thought that she has abandoned him, his heart twisted at that thought before the entrance slid close, the light dimmed that Len has to squint to see the console in front of him. He was about to open his mouth to ask, only to gape in disbelief when another hologram was projected.

It was as if he was looking from the point of view of a child, as the hologram showed small child-sized hands, clinging tight to strangely familiar-looking hands before the view went up and he saw his own face staring down at him. His hologram looked tired and exhausted, but the happiness was prominent in his hologram’s face. Heck, his hologram even looked younger than he was right now, glowing even. The view flickered lower a bit and he saw his hologram’s bulging stomach, one of the hologram’s hand supported the very pregnant belly as the child’s hand reached out to touch his hologram’s stomach. The view shifted again, as if the child looked up to catch his hologram’s gaze.

_“Daddy?”_

Len gaped. That voice…

It was Giddy’s voice, only less mechanical and more _human_.

His hologram hummed. _“Yes, Giddy?”_

The view tilted slightly to the side and Barry’s gentle smiling face came into view. 

_“Dad?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“Do you love each other?”_

Len watched as both his and Barry’s holograms startled at the question before their eyes softened simultaneously. Hologram Barry tilted his head to catch Hologram Len’s eyes as they exchanged a deep, nauseatingly fond look. Hologram Barry smiled and bent down, levelling his eyes to the camera’s level.

 _“Yes, we love each other so much, Giddy_ ,” Hologram Barry said, love twinkled in his eyes.

_“How much?”_

Len chuckled. Giddy’s persistence reminded him of Lisa’s own stubbornness. Definitely a Snart.

He then watched as the camera shifted from Hologram Barry to Hologram Len, as if Giddy was alternating gaze between the two as both holograms shared a similar smirk. The camera stopped at his pregnant (Len really cringed at this sight) hologram.

 _“How much do we love each other, huh?”_ his hologram drawled, eyes leering to Hologram Barry. _“Let’s just say that not even death…”_

Hologram Barry grinned. _“Not even timeline shift…”_

“ _Or evil speedsters who tried to change history…_ ,” Hologram Len snorted.

“ _Or reincarnated enemies—_ ”

“ _You do realize that the bastard is not technically reincarnated. He is from another Earth—_ “

“ _Len, don’t ruin my romantic moments please._ ”

“ _Fine, you hopeless sap._ ”

“ _ **Your** hopeless sap._ ”

Hologram Barry stared down at Giddy—which basically means that he was looking straight at Len right now since Len was looking through Giddy’s eyes (camera)—and Len felt his heart skipped a beat, because Hologram Barry was looking into the camera with so much love and sincerity in his green eyes.

“ _We have been through a lot, Giddy. You don’t know this yet, but you were there with us the first time. You helped us go through all the hindrances_ ,” Hologram Barry let out a shaky breath. “ _You make us believe that none, none of those things—not death, not timeline shift nor the evil from our pasts—_ ”

Hologram Barry looked up to his side, smiling lovingly as Len’s own hologram continued;

“ _None of those could do us apart._ ”

The footage froze, showing Len the frozen holographic image of himself and Barry, engaged in intense stare that was overflooding with so much love and loyalty to each other that it made his own heart twisted uncomfortably and his vision felt hazy. He blinked, hand came up to wipe the single traitorous tear that leaked out as the light came on again and the frozen image been replaced with Giddy’s smiling head.

“Giddy…was that…?”

“My memories,” Gideon said, eyes longing and melancholic. “From the first year after you built me. It’s one of my favourite, since that was the first time you tell me how much you love each other.”

Len snorted. “I see that Barry and I had been _very_ productive?”

Giddy laughed, a tinkling sweet noise with the barest hint of mechanical tone. “You have no idea. It’s an incredibly good thing that both you and Dad are impossibly rich.”

Len chuckled, knowing his own richness come from ill-gotten gains when the entrance slid open and Barry cautiously poke his head in.

“Um, breakfast’s ready?”

Len smiled, causing Barry to stare at him and Giddy curiously. Len tried to not think of anything, blanking out his mind, keeping a tight control over his own emotions so that Barry wouldn’t know what he was planning, though his traitorous heart did beat rapidly as he walked up to Barry and planted a quick kiss on the speedster’s cheek.

The shocked pleased look on Barry’s face was so worth it.

 

=====================================================================================

 

Barry was too high over his cloud nine to the fact that Len didn’t even ice the yard this morning. 

In fact, Barry was extremely happy that they actually parted with an innocent kiss and an exchange of numbers instead of numbness and frostbites. He was so immersed in his happiness that he literally didn’t realize anything while on his way to work.

It took him halfway down the city to notice that he was been followed.

By a large group of people.

Who was carrying cameras and microphones which pretty much gave away that they were very obviously a bunch of reporters.

A quick look around him confirmed that he had made a grave mistake by choosing to walk to work in normal human pace this early of the morning.

_What the hell is happening?_

Literally _everyone_ was staring at him.

Everyone, including the shopkeepers, the passers-by, the mothers who were gossiping just few seconds ago, the drivers at the traffic lights, the school students who were halfway climbing up their bus, the baristas at the café who now was pressing up their faces to the glass to gawk at him—literally everyone.

Barry knew the situation was bad because he was super-grateful that the asshole cat of the pawn shop didn’t gawk at him like the humans.

He halted when a blushing high-schooler stepped into his path and stared up at him with wide amazed eyes. 

_Okay….This is getting freaky…_

“Um, are you Mr. Barry Allen?”

Barry blinked. “Yes?”

“CSI of CCPD?”

“Yes.”

“Owner of STARlabs?”

Barry nodded.

He then almost jumped out of his skin when she thrust what it seemed like an anime-style comic book towards him with a muffled screech of;

“Please sign this!”

Barry’s gaze fixed on the cover—at the delicate drawing of the Flash leaning against a mirror while a drawing of an anime guy with brown hair and green eyes leant at the other side of the mirror, both characters have their back against each other with the mirror separating them. Barry froze upon noticing the resemblance of the anime guy with himself and his mind immediately reeled back to his impromptu shopping trip, mind solely focused to the idea that it might had blown his cover away.

He totally missed the little R18 label at the corner of the book as his mind kept chanting that he had fucked up and now everyone has known that he was the Flash.

_Oh my god…Do they know?_

Trying hard to keep his cool, he plastered a smile on his face and asked, “um, why?”

The girl blushed deeper. “Because you make the Flash happy and that makes you a hero to me too,” she took in a deep breath. “I don’t care that you two are gay!”

To say that Barry was rendered speechless and dumbfounded was a severe understatement.

_What the actual fuck—_

Though, before he could even ask, his surrounding blurred to the familiar crackles of speedforce and the next thing he knew was that he was safe in the privacy of his lab with his time remnant’s arms wrapped around his waist.

Whoaaaa….so that was what it felt? To be carried away by a speedster?

_Coooool._

Barry blinked stupidly when his time remnant released his waist.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Barry….,” Sebastian half-panted, half-growled as the time remnant scowled at him, “…but I need you to know that you just make the rumours worst,”

“Um, thank you for the save….but whaaaattt??” Barry blurted out, snuffing out a random burst of flames on his sweater before it could burn his clothes.

Sebastian stared at him incredulously. “You asked me to pick you up.”

Barry stared back, equally incredulous. “I did NOT.”

That invoked a frown from the time remnant. “You _didn’t_?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“But you texted me! It’s from your phone!” Sebastian took out his phone and shoved it to Barry’s face.

Barry read the texts with a frown.

 

_**[Received] :** Bas, are you free? I’m stuck._

_**[Sent] :** Stuck?_

_**[Received] :** People are gawking at me. I can’t get through this crazy crowd._

_**[Sent] :** Shit. Whaddya want me to do? Cover you to Singh?_

_**[Received] :** Help me out? I can’t flash away without giving away our alter-ego. You can._

_**[Sent] :** Are you sure?_

_**[Received] :** OH MY GOD THEY ARE MOLESTING ME, BAS HELP ME_

 

Barry stared at his time remnant, his face blank and confused. “I haven’t touched my phone since I left the house.”

“Are you serious?” Sebastian half-screeched. “Can you check?”

Barry immediately pulled out his phone, only to frown in horror and disbelief when he saw the exact same conversation in his text messengers. He didn’t write this! Someone had hacked into his phone! But, for what? Why did the hacker need to make Sebastian pick him up?

_What the hell is happening?_

Sebastian took one look at his expression, before understanding dawned onto his face and he immediately went to his table and banged his head there, all the while mumbling something under his breath.

Barry had to step closer to hear that his time remnant was actually mumbling and calling down God’s wrath onto someone whom he called Demonic Trio of Doom—

—wait, was there new meta in town while he holed up himself with Len?

“Bas?” Barry asked, worry started to creep into his mind when the time remnant ignored him and kept banging his head. “Are you alright?”

“Someone—I reckon its Cisco, under Lisa’s heavy influence—hacked your phone to make me pick you up,” the time remnant mumbled softly. He lifted his head, mismatched eyes stared at Barry with a kicked puppy look. “Oh my god….Barry, I’m sorry.”

“Hey hey hey…It’s okay. Thanks for getting me out of there,” Barry sauntered around the table to place his arm around the time remnant’s shoulder. “And for your helps last week. Thank you for talking to me and helping me out. For picking up my stuffs. Also for sending Len’s clothes too,” Barry grimaced, making a mental note to buy the infamous super-delicious cronuts for his time remnant because god knows how bad Lisa would threaten him if only Sebastian didn’t volunteer to retrieve some clothes for Len. His time remnant had unintentionally helped Barry to avoid the second confrontation with the woman. He squeezed the time remnant’s shoulder gratefully. “I never got to thank you for all of your help last week.”

Really, he didn’t know how he could sort out his mess in such little time without his time remnant there.

Sure, Bas never lingered too long after delivering the stuffs to Barry, though that was mainly a precaution step they both had taken since Barry still felt threatened and overly territorial with the presence of another Alpha there but they texted a lot. 

Like, a _lot._

Whenever he was not making out with Len (and the few almost-sex but still mind-blowing situations), Barry had spent his awake time texting with his time remnant. Sebastian has helped him sorting out the differences of their timeline—that they had gotten over Iris by the time they started dating Linda; that instead of gathering the ashes of his time remnant, they had found Sebastian unconscious and badly injured as they cleaned after Zoom’s epic failure before the military could butt in; that instead of clinging to the hope that Ronnie might still be alive, they actually had a body to grief and mourn over after the singularity; that he and Len apparently had some sort of brotherhood going on and Len had been helping him out a lot with his problems without their _professional_ hobbies gotten in the way.

The last tidbit had Barry weirded out. He was positive that it was in _this_ timeline he actually had fallen in love with Len.

But Bas said that it was merely a passing crush that turned to brotherly love.

Sebastian seemed too honest and transparent when he reconfirmed that tidbit when he dropped by to check whether Barry was still alive and haven’t been turned to ice statue yet.

Barry didn’t know what to feel when his time remnant speculated that the feelings he had for Len right now was actually from his original timeline and not this timeline.

Did that mean he had loved Len even before he changed the timeline?

Barry really didn’t know how to accept the idea.

Anyway, he actually had a lot of fun, texting with his time remnant. It really felt like he had some sort of little brother. He loved hearing Sebastian ranted about Lisa—about how Lisa had brainwashed Caitlin and Iris and they somehow had managed to drag Sebastian to the mall, buying a whole new closet with styles that was totally different from the usual Barry Allen, but more similar to a reminisce of their rebellious high school phase where his time remnant’s backstory had been fabricated from. It was almost too fun reading the helpless desperate emojis his time remnant had sent to him throughout the whole shopping trip.

Len was having fun texting Lisa too, now that Barry thought about it. His mate seemed to enjoy giving out ideas, demanding pictures of the very (affectionately) bullied and embarrassed time remnant, all the while sending out teasing remarks to his little brother in the group chat they just created.

Barry had to look over Len’s shoulder that night to know how the shopping trip went on because Lisa was adamant to ban anyone from adding him into the group chat.

Len said that he would add Barry in once Lisa had cooled down.

He had planted a wet sloppy kiss on Len’s lips for that.

It was fun. Barry loved his time remnant so much.

The only thing he wished that his time remnant would be willing to talk about was his constant detachment from Joe, Wally and the rest of Team Flash. He tried to coax Sebastian to talk about it, to know what he could do to help so that they could be one big happy family again but his time remnant—like Len dubbed it, “ _same like you, Scarlet—stubborn as fuck_ ”—wasn’t opening his mouth to talk and constantly avoided the topic.

Barry internally sighed and ruffled his baby brother’s hair. He’ll keep an eye open around Joe, Wally and Team Flash so that he could plan how to intervene and help his brother feel more accepted.

Sebastian finally stopped banging his head to scowl at Barry. “I spent, like, two minutes setting my hair. By our standards, that is equal to two hours effort. Stop messing with it,” he grumbled, but didn’t seem to mind it so much, if the way he leant into Barry’s palm was any indicator.

Barry grinned wider.

God, if he was to name another thing he liked about this timeline apart from his new relationship with Len…it was _this_. The idea that he had earned a baby brother, another _Allen_ that he could found solace in. It made Barry’s heart warm with the idea of still having a blood-family.

“You go for the messy bed-head style,” Barry grinned mischievously, ruffling the hair even more. “I hardly mess with it when it’s already set to _look_ messy.”

“Lisa said it’s sexy and completely contrasting your looks,” Sebastian shrugged. “She made Caitlin snapped my picture this morning to ensure I don’t gelled it up like usual.”

Barry raised an eyebrow. He did notice how much time Sebastian had been spending at Caitlin’s apartment.

Though, he decided to not touch on the topic… _yet_.

“You do look different from me, though,” he hummed, taking in the form-fitting black dress shirt his time remnant had chosen to wear—from the white unbuttoned collar, to the way the rolled white cuffs of the shirt seemed to flatter the biceps Barry himself hid underneath his sweater down to the trim sleek slacks Sebastian had chosen to wear.

Man, did he really look that good?

Heck, even the scars and blind eye seemed mysteriously enchanting now, after being coupled with the way his time remnant’s hair fell over the blind eye in an intricately styled look.

Sense of styles really did wonders to one’s look.

And Barry might had developed some form of narcissism with the way he was awed at how different and handsome his time remnant looked like.

Which he needed to stop doing, before anyone realized his growing narcissism. 

Shaking his head to get rid of his sudden boost of ego, he casted a quick look at the clock and cursed. It was two minutes to nine and he just realized that he hasn’t clocked in his punch card after Sebastian flashed him directly up to their lab.

“Shoot, I haven’t clocked in!” he muttered and gave a quick pat over Sebastian’s head before running out of the lab.

Barry took the emergency stairs rather than elevator, using his speed with the knowledge that the surveillance cameras were currently under maintenance and made it to clock in literally 30 seconds to nine. He sighed in relief, before tensing upon hearing his name being mentioned by the gossiping officers at the lobby.

“Shit, so it’s true? The Flash is really mated to—”

“Our Allen? Our _nerdy_ Barry Allen? You sure it’s not his smoking hot twin?”

“Bas is already here at eight. Cleaning up the lab he says. It’s really our nerdy Allen.”

“So, let me get this straight…The Flash, our resident hero, just flashed our nerdy CSI to work?”

“Well, the video had gone viral. This girl tried to get Allen’s signature and the Flash took him away in a blink of an eye. Come, look.”

Barry peeked from the corner of his eyes, only to see the officers being hunched over what it looked like a tablet. Barry immediately shuddered at their unison ‘oohs’ and ‘aahhs’.

“Shit, it’s really our Allen….”

“Isn’t that sweet? The Flash being worried about the mass reporters and stalkers that were following Allen and decided to drop Allen off to work.”

There was a mix of dreamy sighs and annoyed groans.

“It’s impossibly irritating to know our super busy resident hero is more romantic than my stay-at-home mate…”

“Allen scored a lucky shot, eh?”

“Obviously, _duh_.”

“You think he knew the face behind the mask?”

“Of course he knows. They can’t be having costumed sex, right? But I guess mating law gave Allen the privilege to keep his mate’s identity secret, even against the White House itself.”

Barry cringed. Sebastian did tell him about this, that Iris has started a rumour as an act of revenge for keeping her out of the loop with the whole mating with Len thing. The newest rumour right now was that CSI Barry Allen was the Flash’s mate. He had read the post in her blog, noting Caitlin’s verbal signature in the supposedly ‘anonymous’ tips but he didn’t take it seriously. He even laughed at how ridiculous it was and believed that nobody was going to support the idea.

Oh, how he regretted underestimating Iris now.

This was by far worse than Lisa’s ‘punishment’.

He had no idea that the theory had quickly grown in popularity due to his coincidental mating leave being confirmed by none other the traitorous Caitlin and Captain Singh himself. Then, there was also the fact that he practically owned STARlabs, which most people already knew had direct connection with the Flash. In addition, the fact that people knew that Iris was his sister and the Flash’s favourite reporter, and also that Joe was his adoptive father and the one officer the Flash worked with the most must have fueled the rumour even more.

Having his time remnant flashed him away in public and gave them the illusion of the Flash whisking him away to safety was literally like him confirming that the rumours were true.

Shit. Was that what Sebastian meant by making the rumours worst?

Barry swore to never hide anything from Iris now.

Also, the Legion of Beautiful Doom was something he would never cross now that he knew how dangerous their collective minds could be when put together. 

Barry inhaled a deep breath and tried to sneak back to the lab without having to use his power or being noticed by the officers.

“Allen!”

Barry winced and curled himself at the booming voice of his captain.

The lobby immediately went silent as all eyes were fixed on him. Barry uncurled himself when he noticed the way Singh was staring at him with amusement and concern in his eyes.

“Yes, Captain Singh?”

“The porcupine lady last week. Get the case files from Sebastian and review it. I want it by the end of the day,” the captain instructed, and Barry almost exhaled a breath of relief because Singh didn’t mention anything about his latest scandal.

_Almost._

Because right when Barry was about to nod, the captain added;

“And take care of your mate, okay? He took a nasty attack from the porcupine lady—“ Singh winced as if he was the one in pain, before raising his eyebrow at the very perplexed Barry. “But of course, you know about that, right? Thank you for allowing your mate out of bed when the city is under attack…”

Barry gaped, trying to find his voice to deny the scandal but Singh has already gone by the time he blurted out;

“I’m not mated to the Flash…”

Officer Gonzalez patted his back heartily. “Aww, no need to deny it, kid! We don’t mind that you and the Flash are gay.”

“Yeah. I have an Alpha for a baby brother. Sometimes he needed comfort stuffs from the Omega aisle too,” Detective Kim chirped. She reached a hand to pat Barry’s arm and grinned assuringly. “It’s okay. We don’t judge.”

“I’m not—” Barry tried again.

But he was cut off by the DA who just happened to stop by their gossiping circle. “Hmm..Allen…I was wondering… Does your mate vibrate in bed?”

Barry blushed deep red.

Oh god, the DA did not just ask him _that_.

The gossipers crowed and whistled at his obvious embarrassment and Barry was honestly considering to screw logic and expose his power now but was thankfully saved with a tentative soft voice from behind him.

“Barry? Can you come up to the lab? I need your help with a case file.”

Barry could’ve kissed his baby brother right now.

Perfect timing.

“Sure!” He chirped all too quickly and flitted through the gathering crowd with soft ‘excuse me’ as he practically dragged Sebastian up to their lab. Once they reached the elevator, Barry slammed the button to ensure the door slid shut before anyone could join them. He immediately hugged his time remnant once the door slid shut.

“Thank you, brother. You’re my life savior.”

He was engulfed in warmth as his time remnant hugged back, feeling the slight tremble of Sebastian’s voice as the time remnant mumbled to his hair;

“Anytime, Bar—brother.”

 

=====================================================================================

 

Sebastian stared at his doppelganger.

“It’s so cool you get the Rogues’ help while dealing with Zoom…,” Barry rambled, chewing thoughtfully on his fries. “Back in my original timeline, Lisa went to Keystone after the debacle with Lewis so I faced Zoom alone when he first showed himself. Broke my back and went into coma for like a whole week,” he winced, as if remembering the pain. “It’s nice to know that Lisa and Mick decided to come for help in this timeline. I always know there’s good in them.”

He couldn’t help but notice that Barry was very different as compared to him.

Back then, Sebastian got away with broken hip, dislocated shoulder and multiple superficial injuries because Lisa and Mick appeared right in time when Zoom was about to deliver the final blow.

Zoom got away with a scorched thigh and golded arm, but Sebastian wasn’t fatally injured. Heck, he was up and running after a full week of recovery.

Barry, on the other hand, had his back broken, went into coma and was stuck in a wheelchair after Zoom dragged him around Central City to show how useless their hero was.

Back then, Sebastian proved Zoom wrong by fighting even harder right after he was healed, Lisa’s constant encouragement kept his head held high as he fought against all the evil metas from Earth-2.

Barry, on the other hand, struggled alone with guilt, anger and self-doubt while slowly recovering from the fatal injuries.

It was amazing how similar yet so different their life turned out with a shift of timeline.

His doppelganger had suffered worst scenarios than him, but was still going strong with that same smile.

Sebastian was awed with Barry, looking up at the original like a mentor, a stronger version of himself, someone he could be if his situation wasn’t as lucky as he was right now. That’s why he was all too happy to concede defeat after losing in HEIST VI online (though he had a hunch that Barry cheated and have Len as a living guide) and eventually accepted his fate to be the younger twin for their public story.

He could learn so much from this version of himself.

Barry was far resilient and stronger than him—psychologically speaking—and with how he was being isolated right now, Sebastian knew he needed the same strength if he didn’t want to spiral down to any dark path. 

Len, Lisa, Iris, Barry and Caitlin tried to help him to feel accepted, but he still felt out of place and not wanted.

Something that Joe made obvious throughout his first week as Sebastian Allen CSI of CCPD.

He needed the same mental strength as Barry if he wanted to survive this without reverting back to his instinct to fight bullies by being a bully. He learnt his lesson back in high school. Being a bully to fight bullies wasn’t the best idea.

He needed Barry’s mental strength.

“Bas? Why you’re staring at me like that?”

And he really needed to stop this narcissism he was developing with the way he was awed at how awesome and mentally strong his doppelganger was.

Which he needed to stop doing, before anyone realized his growing narcissism. 

Shaking his head to get rid of his sudden boost of ego, he quirked a smile to the original. “Just felt surreal seeing you talk—it’s like seeing myself talk.”

Barry blinked blankly before he burst to a laugh. “But I like it. I love having you around. Felt like I finally have a brother I always wanted.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened at how the words came out sincerely and very honestly from the original’s mouth. His lips tugged to a fond smile.

“Thank you, Barry.”

“I’m your big brother, aren’t I?”

Sebastian groaned. “I demand a rematch of HEIST. I refuse to give you the privilege of being the older twin.”

“Nuh-uh,” Barry shook his head. “I won. I’m now officially your 16-minutes-older twin.”

“I bet you cheated. You have a master thief at your side,” Sebastian snorted.

“Sore loser,” Barry pointed at him using his fries. His eyes then flicked to the right side of Sebastian’s torso, where they both knew was still healing from whatever venom the porcupine lady had in her sharp-baseball-bat-sized needles. “How’s your injury?”

Sebastian blinked. “You mean from Lady Prick?”

They both groaned at the name. 

“Cisco needs to up his naming game,” Barry scowled before his face turned solemn. “…but, yeah. Caitlin didn’t go into details about your injury…”

“It’s healing, but slow,” Sebastian shrugged. It still annoyed him that he wasn’t able to avoid the attack until it was too late just because his vision was limited. “Lady Prick is apparently venomous,” he added, one hand instantly came up to rest on his side where he could feel the bumps from the bandages. “It didn’t hurt though, just numb. Caitlin was considering using the sample to develop an anaesthetic that would actually work on us.”

“And we seriously need to line our suit with Kevlar,” Barry added with a thoughtful frown. “I rather have a slightly heavier suit than have to suffer the pain from unexpected attack.”

“Cisco said it was a waste since we can catch the bullet or whatever trajectory that was aimed to us…”

“We can catch the ones we could see. What if someone sneak-shot us from behind? We’re speedsters, not psychics.”

“Huh, good point.”

“I hate being in pain…,” Barry mumbled.

“Yeah,” Sebastian agreed, flinching a bit. “But the phantom pain was even worst.”

“Oh, god…Don’t even start,” Barry groaned, throwing his hands to the air in an exasperated gesture. “It was super irritating to feel the pain even though the wound has healed. I couldn’t even bring myself to ask help because there is literally no wound for Caitlin to look over.”

“And it’s not like we could take aspirin to deal with it,” Sebastian added with a scowl. “The downside of being a speedster.”

Barry grinned at him, thinking about how wonderful he could talk about his dilemma as a speedster and have someone to understand exactly what he was referring about. He stared at his time remnant, lips curled to a playful smile as he mischievously reached a hand to super-speed snatch Sebastian’s fries.

“Hey!” Sebastian tried to snatch Barry’s wrist, only to miss due to his lack of sight in one eye. He pretended that it didn’t bother him and brought his fries to his chest, all the while plastering a sulky scowl on his face. “Hands off my fries! Unbelievable…”

Barry’s eyes softened when Sebastian missed his wrist but seemed to understand that he didn’t want to talk about it. Barry grinned wider, making an exaggerated show of eating the stolen fries.

“Come on, your fries are my fries too.”

“I do not agree with that rule.”

“Sharing is caring.”

“What? Does that mean your mate is my mate too?”

Barry paused, his face was completely scandalized before the expression twisted to an annoyed scowl.

“Never mind, sharing is not caring.”

Sebastian flashed his teeth in a wide teasing grin while Barry rolled his eyes at him.

They then stared at each other for a second before both burst to a laughter.

“Ahem.”

Though, their happy moments were disturbed when someone cleared their throat.

Sebastian kept his eyes on the polished surface of his table as he heard Barry greeted;

“Hey Joe. What’s up?”

“Can I talk to you, Bear?”

Sebastian dared himself to look up, only to freeze when he met Joe’s eyes. Joe’s glare was so cold that it would give Captain Cold a run for his ill-gotten money. The skepticism and suspicious were evident in the very same eyes that used to look at him with love and protectiveness that it made Sebastian’s heart twisted uncomfortably. He blinked when Barry casted a quick glance at him and was a bit soothed when the original spun in his chair so that Barry was facing Joe with his back to Sebastian as if he was shielding him from the cold gaze. Barry’s hand casually tapped on the surface of the table before brushing alongside Sebastian’s hand in a comforting gesture.

He appreciated the gesture but Sebastian really couldn’t afford being under Joe’s suffocating glare.

Hence, he grabbed Lady Prick’s (he had exchanged an exasperated glance with Caitlin for this name—Cisco really needed to up his naming game) file before mumbling meekly;

“I’m gonna hand this in to Singh.”

He was out of the lab before Barry could super-speed stop him.

He dropped the file onto the captain’s table, smiling and politely responding when Singh grumbled about the sad excuse of his green lunch to him before he made his way out of the office. He closed the door behind him, and stared at the stairs, wondering if he should go back up or went for a little run around the city.

The decision was made for him when his phone rang and he answered it, only to smile at Caitlin’s voice.

“Savitaaaarr~!” She sounded excited, and he somehow has gotten used to the nickname she had created for him (she was persistent on working out a new superhero identity for him) that it actually made his smile wider. “You still have some time before your lunch break ended, right? Can you come to the lab? We have something to show to you!”

“Sure,” Sebastian hummed, all the while already making his way to the elevator. “Be there in a flash.”

He flashed away to STARlabs, skidding to a halt as he entered the cortex, only to raise an eyebrow upon seeing Lisa and Caitlin there. Cisco was nowhere in sight.

“Where is—?”

“He is still sore from last night,” Lisa cut him off as if already knew what he was going to ask. “And Iris is stuck at Jitters. Long line for the coffees. She is held up earlier, something about her boss wanting exclusive interview with Barry.”

Sebastian scowled. “I really do not appreciate you hacking into Barry’s phone this morning.”

“I didn’t hack into his phone, honey,” Lisa batted her lashes, exchanging devious smirk with Caitlin. “Cisco did.”

“Under your Alpha influence, no doubt.”

“Now, now, don’t be so frosty about how much my boy loves me.”

Sebastian tried to find his resolution to appear angry to her but ended up settling to a soft smile. He pulled a chair and seated himself in front of both women. They were seated in front of the test table; Caitlin’s laptop was open and showing a chemical sequence on the screen while there was a line of petri dishes right next to the laptop.

“So, what do you have to show me?” he asked, peeking curiously at the test table.

Caitlin and Lisa exchanged an excited grin.

“First thing first,” Caitlin started, sliding a sample into the microscope before prompting Sebastian to look at it. As he did, she started explaining. “I took some samples from your encounter with Lady Prick last week and ta-da!! I have developed the first prototype of anaesthetic that would work on you and Barry!” she beamed at him as he retreated back to his seat. “We don’t know how long it would last, or how strong it would be, but I have managed to extract the chemical compound from her venom that created the numbing effect that dull your pain. So, it’s a good start.”

Sebastian smiled at her. “Thank you, Cait. This is so awesome,” his smile grew to a grin, eyes genuinely sparkled in awe at Caitlin’s brilliance as he added, “you’re so amazing, pulling this off in just a few days.”

She blushed lightly, her smile was a bit shy as she beamed back at him.

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Oh god, you two…Just kiss already. It’s so painful to watch.”

They both startled and scowled at her. “LISA!”

“What? Both Iris and I ship it.”

Caitlin pouted at the dangerous woman while Sebastian flushed slightly.

“Anyway…Next thing,” Caitlin cleared her throat and moved a bit to give more room to Sebastian. She prompted the time remnant to come closer and once he did, now seated in front of the lines of the petri dishes and the vial with strange bluish crackling thing, she started drumming her fingers on the table. “Right…we didn’t mean to undermine you or anything…,” Caitlin said softly, smiling as he stared at her with confusion. “But, Lisa and I got worried after you were injured in the fight last week…,” she sighed, raising a hand when he wanted to retort. “I have underestimated how your current sight would affect your ability to fight, so we—meaning, Lisa, Iris and I—kinda brainstorm to find a way to overcome this problem….”

As much as it irked him to know that they thought he was weak just because his current vision was limited due to his blind eye, he understood their point. He had come to term with the fact too, that he was severely handicapped in a fight with his depth perception and peripheral view been limited. Hence, Sebastian leant back to his chair, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the table in half-curiosity, half-irritation.

“So, what do you come up with?”

Lisa smirked. She reached out for one of the petri dish, taking the silver metal in it and handed it to him, all the while looking badass and confident that it actually prompted strong curiosity inside Sebastian.

“Vibrate this. As strong as you could. Like you’re running at your fastest speed,” she instructed, forcing his palm to close around the metal.

Confused and intrigued, he did as she told him to do.

It didn’t take long for the metal to grow hot in his palm before cracking to smaller pieces. 

He opened his palm, awed at the small pieces although he had been expecting it. Not many metals on Earth could withstand his speed, moreover with the raw power of speedforce he naturally leaked out while using his speed. That’s why they opted to reinforced tri-polymer—it was more flexible than metal and can withstand the power of the speedforce.

“Right. So, this is a sample of metal that a very drunk Lenny stole when he lost a dare back when I just graduated university,” Lisa said, smiling fondly at the memory before shifting her smile to that of a seductress when she noticed Sebastian’s and Caitlin’s stare. “It’s from NASA facility and we actually have a bunch of it stashed in our safehouse. I never got around to go through with my old project after all.”

There was a beat of silence as they all digested the information.

“Okay…As amazing as it sounded that Len stole something from NASA while being completely wasted…,” Sebastian started, honestly confused and bewildered. “I still don’t get it.”

“We think to create a new suit for you,” Caitlin started nervously, although her nervous edge slowly disappeared and been replaced with confidence when he gaped at her. “Some kind of body armor, so even if you couldn’t avoid an attack due to your limited vision, you wouldn’t get hurt,” she gave a grim smile at him. “And this metal is the best candidate that we have experimented on. We considered using Kevlar and create similar suit to the Flash’s suit, but then come the issue that most design that we have did not protect your identity at all,” she sighed heavily, eyes felt with guilt as she looked at him. “As much as I hate to say this, but your eye is very recognizable. Not many people have one green eye and one white blind eye. People will know who you are.”

Sebastian nodded in understanding, despite the way he was still gaping at them.

“So I took out my old robotics project,” Lisa said, before waving a hand dismissively at his confused incredulous stare. “Don’t look at me like that, Bear. Lenny sacrificed everything to send me to university. I’m a certified mechanical engineer with specialization in robotics. I used to have this project of body armor I wanted to build.”

“Are you serious?!” He breathed out in disbelief. “Then why did you commit crimes if you have proper certificate in a promising field??”

“Sibling-bonding, hun. Lenny flunked out of school so that he could send me to one,” she shrugged as if it was nothing. “Anyway…I redesign my old design to add some form of communication system and extra surveillance to compensate for your sight, while Cait and Piper worked on the metal,” Lisa grinned dangerously and Sebastian couldn’t help but gulped. She was so intimidating. “It took lots of tries but with everyone’s effort, we made a breakthrough.”

She then handed a similar piece of metal to him and nodded. “Do the same thing.”

He did, only to have his jaw slacked down in awe. This piece of metal resonance with his speed in harmonious synchronization. It didn’t protest against the speedforce but instead molded itself to the power of his speed, and even when he tried to vibrate faster, the metal kept up with him, being completely in sync. He opened his palm, staring at the unharmed metal in awe before he looked up to meet both women’s gaze with dumbfounded expression and wide eyes.

“How?” he breathed, eyes falling back to the metal. “What?”

Lisa’s and Caitlin’s grin were blinding.

“You owed Hartley, Bas,” Caitlin said, smiling brightly. 

He stared at her, mismatched eyes demanded explanation. She beamed at him.

“Do you remember when Harry stole the speedforce from you to give it to Zoom?” Caitlin asked and Sebastian nodded at the memory. “I kept a sample for future use,” she smiled sheepishly as he gave her an incredulous stare. “Then, Hartley and Iris found out how to temper Lisa’s alien metal with the speedforce sample to create a brand-new metal,” she nodded at the metal in his palm. “It’s far lighter than Kevlar, more resilient against attacks and is in sync with speedforce.”

Sebastian’s jaw was officially unhinged from his skull. “You’re joking.”

“Nope,” Caitlin grinned, popping the ‘p’ sound of the word. “Hartley has so many plans for your new suit.”

“Yes. Piper is a valuable resource,” Lisa nodded, her voice filled with manic devious glee. “He was all gung-ho and excited when I called him up to ask for help. Said that he finally had equal chance to compete with Cisco now that he had a speedster to work with.”

Sebastian blinked. “Isn’t Hartley in Paris?”

“He is on his flight to Central as we speak,” Lisa shrugged, though the smug smirk was on her face. “He said he isn’t going to bail on the chance to work on this, what with a speedster, a bunch of raw alien metal and speedforce sample available for him to work with.”

Sebastian stared at both women, slowly digesting what they just had told him. Then, a soft smile made its way onto his face.

“You two basically gathered a team for me…,” he said, smiling gratefully, mismatched eyes stared at both women with awe and adoration. “Thank you.”

Lisa and Caitlin exchanged a look.

“Wait…,” Caitlin started, placing a finger on her chin. “We have a speedster…”

“Someone who had connections within the underground circle of criminals… That is as good as having connection with the police—heck, maybe even better,” Lisa added, pointing to herself before gesturing at Caitlin. “And then we have you as a medical expert…”

“Hartley is a highly resourceful tech that could rival Cisco,” Caitlin hummed, the twinkle in her eyes almost giddy and childishly excited. “And we have Iris, who practically controls the publicity when it comes to Central City heroes…”

They both exchanged a giddy devious grin while Sebastian slowly paled.

“I do like the name ‘Savitar’,” Lisa hummed. “It’s so cool. Just imagine…,” she trailed, voice a tone lower as she added, “Savitar, the _God of Speed_.”

Caitlin grinned and beamed like sunshine. “Team Savitar does have a nice ring to it, right?”

Then they started cackling evilly.

Sebastian paled. What had he done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to god, I'm torn between _Legion of Beautiful Doom_ and _Demonic Trio of Doom_ for Lisa, Iris and Caitlin. XD
> 
> Also, doujinshi of the Flash is totally a thing in this universe. I just couldn't resist. Imagine Len found out about them and surprise Barry by having a whole shelf of ColdFlash doujinshi.
> 
> And the fact that Sebastian/Barry have issues of fighting bully by being a bully is inspired from the song Bacterial Contamination. It's a nice song with deep meaning, although I don't like the mixing, but it still stuck in my head anyway.
> 
> You also may or may not just get a hint of future villain of this story. Squint those pretty eyes really tight. You might get a hint.
> 
> And team Savitar does have a nice ring in it, right? XD
> 
> Like usual, comments and feedbacks are like Len and his puns. It made my day and encourage me to write more.


	9. “Caitlinwantsmetogiveyousextalk.” - Savitar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Barry were at the receiving end of a sex talk. The deeper knowledge of their biology is explored. Sebastian exposed a rather dark past of him and Barry. And Len received an unexpected guest from Earth-3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The alternate title for this chapter is : "I deeply regret this." - Demetria_0620
> 
> Really. I really did regret writing this. Writing under the influence of fever meds are not good for anyone, y'all. You're going to suffer the butchered science my drugged mind conjure while resisting meds-induced sleep. Like holy hell; why the fuck am I reading my old biology textbook to write this chapter? I'm English major! My current life do not require me to read these biology textbooks damn it.
> 
> On the brighter side, the plot is moving with the introduction of the new character.
> 
> I'm currently too sleepy and loopy to read for errors. So, as per usual, this is un-betaed and I may or may not go through this once more to edit it, so please forgive any errors. Happy reading!
> 
>  **DISCLAIMER:** I held no responsibilities if any knowledge you will soon learn would freak you out. Any information that does not come from credible,qualified characters are liable to misunderstanding by other characters. Ye have be warned. XD

When Len felt chills running down his spine (no, that wasn’t a pun), he knew he should’ve stepped back, turned his back to the door and noped his way out of there.

But of course, he didn’t. He is Captain Cold. Captain Cold wouldn’t run away from his own apartment, despite whatever the heck was lurking behind the door and was sending chills to his danger sensors. Hence, Len squared his shoulders, kept one hand on the gun strapped to his thigh and unlocked the door—

—only to blink incredulously at the sight of Caitlin Snow and his baby sister whispering and giggling conspiringly on the couch.

Again, Len felt the hair on his arm rose in alarm.

It wasn’t too late for him to nope his way out of here, right?

The two gorgeous females raised their heads up upon his entrance, smiling cheerfully upon seeing him.

“Mr. Snart!” 

“Lenny!” 

Len would’ve thought that Lisa had stolen Barry’s speed with the way she had him in her grasp within a blink of his eyes. She hugged him tight, her fingers were gentle against the side of his face, her breasts were soft against his chest and it had rendered Len speechless and shocked at such display of affection.

“You survived,” she crooned, finally allowing him to breathe although she did keep a hand at the small of his back. Her fingers then curled round his biceps, her lips twisted to a calculative grimace, her sharp eyes raked up and down his body with attention that caused shivers down his spine. “He didn’t rape you again, right? Our sweet Bear said that he wouldn’t but we never know how stable Jailbait’s brain is right now.”

Snow snorted.

Lisa raised one elegant brow. “What?”

“Your insistent on calling them both with those names would bound to cause confusion soon…,” the doctor hummed, although more in amusement than annoyance.

“And we know that I love to confuse people…,” Lisa purred in response, winking at the doctor, mischief twinkled in her eyes. “One of the many reasons Cisco still believe he hasn’t seen my real face yet.”

Len blinked. “Um, what?” he growled, his cold gun whirred to life as his fingers twitched at the safety pin. “What do you mean Ramon hasn’t seen you? You said you have been seeing each other ever since I joined Rip—”

He was silenced with a single manicured finger over his lips.

“Oh, shush, Lenny,” his sister hushed. “I was fooling with him, surprising him with multiple disguise that he started to doubt what my real eye and hair colour are. It’s nothing serious.”

“So, he isn’t fucking you blindly?” Len frowned, releasing the hold on his gun so that it died down. “Because if he was anything like your exes who only dated you for sex without even wanting to look at you because of your scars, I’m going to turn him to ice statue and place him at STARlabs’ entrance as a mascot,” he said, voice dropped to an angry hiss.

Then, he found his rage died down and been replaced with confusion when both Snow and Lisa stared at him with eyes as wide as saucers and a similarly scandalized expression.

“What?” he hissed, feeling like he was the butt of a joke when both females shared an amused smile.

“As _endearing_ as the threat was…,” Snow started, voice trembling as if she was holding back a giggle.

“But he isn’t doing any fucking, Lenny,” Lisa snorted.

Len stared at his sister, perplexed. “Wait, he can’t get it up? With _you_?” He unholstered his gun and dropped it onto the single sofa by his side, all the while blinking incredulously. “You must seriously love him if you stay with the kid even though he couldn’t get his dick up…”

Christ, just his sister’s luck to score the guy with ED.

Why the fuck Ramon has erectile dysfunction anyway? Wasn’t he was like, 20-ish?

Lisa stared at him. Blankly. Like Len just said something absurd that she couldn’t fathom.

Snow, on the other hand, seemed to be like a few steps ahead of them and has started giggling.

“Oh my god,” the doctor giggled, shaking and trembling with laughter. “Bas was right. You are adorably clueless about the way our genders work…”

Len had to refrain from swearing at that one woman he knew would be responsible to his health from now on.

But to be called _‘adorably clueless_ ’ by the woman whom he had tried to blow up once had really bruised his ego.

Lisa sighed with that exasperated fondness look in her smile and gently helped him out of his parka. His boots have already been shucked off the moment Lisa pulled him towards the couch, so he didn’t retaliate when she guided him to sit on the sofa, right next to Snow. She draped his parka on the single sofa his gun was placed on, before taking the seat next to him, perfectly sandwiching him between her and Snow.

“Lenny,” she smiled, snaking her arms round his waist and lean her temple against his shoulder. “Cisco isn’t the one doing the fucking. He’s an Omega. I’m the Alpha in the relationship, so naturally, it’s me who is in the giving end,” she patted his arms gently before adding; “Between the two of us, he’s the one who can conceive, since female Alphas can’t conceive. Plus, Cisco is not up to be adventurous or experimental yet. He doesn’t want to top me.”

Len stiffened.

_What the actual fuck—_

His face must had done a funny thing because Snow started eyeing him with amused interest.

“I thought both Bas and Barry have told you about this?” the doctor giggled, teeth flashed too bright for Len’s comfort.

“They did…,” Len trailed, remembering the time remnant’s botched effort to explain things to him, and Scarlet’s equally useless effort to do the same thing. 

Len promptly cringed. How he regretted not really paying attention to either of their effort. With Scarlet, Len was simply too distracted with the idea of his heat-induced mind to debauch and molest the speedster while with Barry, Len was too exhausted that night that the time remnant hardly completed the introduction before Len fell asleep.

Len side-eyed both Lisa and Snow. “So…,” he started, cringing mentally at how awkward this situation would be. “Do you two…,” he ducked his head bashfully, “….y’know…?”

“Do we both possess the ability to impregnate?”

Bless Dr.Snow for cutting him off. Len was honestly going to ask if they both have dicks and wouldn’t that be humiliatingly awkward.

Not trusting his mouth for not blurting out embarrassing questions, Len nodded.

“We do,” Snow beamed, placing her mug onto the coffee table as if she would be needing both of her hands. “I believe Bas had shown some pictures and diagrams to you?” Len nodded when she stared at him expectantly. “Okay, so, as you can see….,” she pulled her laptop and placed it on his lap, pulling the similar slides he had seen last week—holy hell, she had prepared for this—and enlarged the diagram of a female Alpha. “Right here,” she made a circular motion using her manicured index finger over one gland Len knew didn’t exist in the diagram he learnt back then thirty years plus when he was in high school. 

Len shuddered. He was forty-four and now was being educated about reproductive system by the very same woman he had kidnapped and tried to blow to smithereens.

(Although, to be fair, he knew that no harm would actually come to Snow because his plan was flawless.)

“Lenny, pay attention,” Lisa whispered to him, still leaning and clinging to his arm as if she feared to lose him. 

Len reached a hand to pat her hair, knowing that the fear was not baseless, that Lisa did fear of losing him ever since his literal return from death when Oculus spat him out. She leant closer, fingers clutching around his lower arm tight. Snow smiled nervously, and waited for Len to turn his attention back to the screen.

“May I?” Snow said, gesturing to the screen.

“Sure,” Len jerked his head in a nod. Might as well he tried to learn something from her. She’s a credible source after all.

“Right,” Snow said, tapping on the odd gland, only to open another slide with more detailed cross-section diagram of said organ. “This, right here, is what we call the ‘Alpha gland’. In male Alphas, it is positioned a little bit higher from their prostate gland, whereas in female Alphas, as you can see it here, is linked to the ovary duct.”

Len frowned. “Wait, you female Alphas have ovaries and these….,” he pointed at the diagram, trying to remember the exact term—because damn it, he flunked out high school like thirty years ago—before giving up the next two seconds, and resumed, “…whatever the fuck these tubes are—so why aren’t you capable of conceiving?”

Snow frowned back. “But we don’t have uterus,” she said, tapping back to show the original image before running her fingers over the diagram. “See? We do have ovaries and oviduct, but they functioned similarly to seminal vesicle and prostate gland in male Alphas,” she tapped again, enlarging the image. 

“That’s why people said not to press on female Alpha’s hips during sexual encounters, because these are like g-spots for us,” Lisa grinned, batting her lashes at Snow.

“Technically, it’s not the hips…,” Snow sighed, but an exasperated fond smile did appear over her face. “But, it’s close enough,” she shuddered, her fingers tapped the image back to the main image. 

“In homosexual relationship, you can reach these so-called g-spots if your partner goes deep enough…,” Lisa added, leaning over Len’s lap to ran a finger over Snow’s silk-cladded thighs. “It’s easier if they take you from the back…,” Len watched curiously as Lisa ran her finger higher while Snow started to flush deep pink, “…..or if they added some pressure or _vibration_ right here…,” Lisa grinned deviously, her sharp manicured fingers pressed slightly underneath the belt of Snow’s high-waisted pencil skirt.

Len quirked a smirk when Snow stammered and flushed to a deeper shade of red.

Oh, he did realize what Lisa had insinuated there. Only blind people wouldn’t notice how close the doctor had gotten with Scarlet’s time remnant in the span of one-week Len had holed himself in that mansion. Heck, the time remnant had been crashing in Snow’s apartment more often than he did at STARlabs. 

“A-a-anyway—,” Snow stammered out just when Len about to open his mouth and tease and Len decided to spare the doctor from the incoming death-out-of-embarrassment and hushed his sister silently under his breath. Lisa pouted at him but succumbed to silence when he glared at her. Snow smiled gratefully at him before resuming. “R-right….So, with that being said, most of the time female Alphas have similar physical body of that of any females from other genders, but when aroused, our ovaries and Alpha glands would secrete a massive amount of hormones that would allow the muscles of our vagina relaxed so that our penis could slid out.”

God, this was awfully awkward and cringe-worthy.

Len couldn’t believe he was getting sex-ed at this age.

He was FORTY-FOUR, for speedforce’s sake!

Lisa, however, leant over Len’s lap again to get a better look at the diagram. “Huh, I always thought the diagram looked weird but…,” she trailed, looking up at Snow curiously. “So it isn’t our clitoris being engorged and grew to a penis?”

“Uh, no…,” Snow muttered, before a sigh slipped past her lips. “What have you been learning in your sex-ed classes?”

“Well, the teacher never actually talked much about the science-biology thingy like this, and just focus on the mating, birth control and other important stuffs….,” Lisa scowled, as if something was bothering her. “Guess understanding our own biology isn’t as important as the rest, huh?”

“I hate our current sex-education policy…,” Snow sighed again.

“Seconded, sista~”

Len felt like the awkward third-wheel in between them like this.

When they high-fived, with him still being in the middle, Len started to worry that Lisa might been actually trying to recruit Snow (and potentially Barry the time remnant) into her secret orgy fantasy.

As a big brother, Len was _very_ concerned…

Though, his concern disappeared when Lisa flicked to the next slide and he decided that he had made a grave mistake for not noping out of here when he had the chance.

His gaze flashed to the title ‘male Omega’ and cringed.

He wasn’t drunk enough for this.

“Nuh-uh…,” he said, trying to stand up but was hindered with Lisa’s tight vice grip on his arm. “I’m not drunk enough for this.”

Beer. He needed beer.

Len made a move towards the fridge, but was instantly pulled to sit back on the couch by Snow’s surprisingly strong grip. The doctor gave him a glare so cold that it made the fine hair on his skin to stand. He shivered under her gaze, sensing the looming dominant aura that demanded him to obey and he found himself to pull his legs up and meekly curl his arms round his knees, lips curled to a scowl when both Lisa and Snow scooted closer and trapped him in between them, causing an escape to be almost impossible.

“Can we not?” Len almost whined, but he managed to use stern annoyed tone.

“You need to understand your own biology, Lenny,” Lisa smiled assuringly at him. “If what you’re telling us were true, you thought that your biology is that of a male Beta.”

“Because that’s how it is supposed to be?” Len was positively whining now. He was lucky he managed to control the instinct to pout. “Men impregnate, women conceive. That’s how the biology of reproductive system is supposed to work!” he gritted out through his teeth.

“But that isn’t how it works,” Snow said, resting a cool soothing hand over his upper arm. “Whatever you may thought about your biology, or how it _was_ before Barry changed the universe—the fact remains the same,” she ended her words sternly, like unforgiving storm. “You’re an Omega male. You can conceive. You’re very fertile during your heat, and you had an unsafe sexual intercourse with an Alpha during your heat. Barry almost knotted inside you, Snart. There’s a high risk of pregnancy right here, and although we need another few weeks before we’re able to confirm it, it’s best if you’re aware of the way your natural biology works.”

Len cringed.

Right. Pregnancy. He had successfully omitted that idea from his brain ever since he had his clear mind back. And to be reminded like this…

Len flinched. Scarlet really was a pain in his ass, wasn’t he?

“Fine,” he gritted out, hugging the plush cushion of his sofa and glared angrily at the laptop. “Explain away, doc.”

He begrudgingly turned his frown to a minimum when Snow beamed at him.

Damn Alphas and their adorable smiles…

“That’s a good bro…,” Lisa smiled in approval, head dropping on Len’s shoulder as she curled her body against his side, arms snaked around his waist like a shackle that stopped him from running away. “Just listen to her, Lenny…and this will be over real quick.”

Len tried to not sneer at her.

He failed.

Snow cleared her throat and tapped at the image, enlarging the part where Len assumed his _uterus_ would be.

A violent shudder ripped through Len’s spine.

God, he couldn’t even think about that without cringing. He really wasn’t drunk enough for this!

The picture enlarged and Len could make out the shape of a uterus he usually saw in diagrams depicting women’s reproductive system, only without the ovaries and Fallopian tubes (so that was what it called…bless these labels). It was familiar yet oddly bizarre in the same time. Most of them were pretty much similar to the one he remembered learning in high school, but there was an unfamiliar tube that was connecting the gland in the scrotum up to the uterus, in such a way that Len assumed would allow the eggs to move up. The cervix of the uterus seemed to share the same opening to the rectum, if Len was understanding this diagram right.

Which was a bizarre thing to him—and this was coming from the man who cheated death and had travelled through time to stop an immortal psychopath.

Beer. Len was in a dire need for beer.

Or death. Yep. Death sounded nice. Anything’s nicer than this awkward embarrassment.

Hence, Len wriggled and squirmed from an escape, trying to slip out of the couch, grab his gun and ice his own head before he had to bear god-knows-how-many-hours learning that he had an actual uterus and could very well get bloated with Barry’s speedy spawn from hell.

Lisa seemed to notice his intention and tightened her ‘hug’ around his waist, anchoring him in place mercilessly.

“Alright,” Snow started, sounding almost giddy when she tapped on the screen to enlarge the image. “Assuming that you’re familiar with the biology of Betas, I’ll highlight the key differences between you and a Beta,” she exhaled nervously, circling the gland in the scrotum once using her finger. “This right here, is the gland that produced your eggs. They alternated turns to produce eggs for each of your heat cycle, but sometimes they produced two eggs at the same time—which in triad mating, could result in twins that have different Alphas as a father, should the situation allow for such fertilization to happen,” she smiled at Len’s grimace, twisting her fingers nervously when his gaze darted to his gun. Lisa purred and casually laid her head over Len’s lap, successfully stopping him from his intended escape.

“I remember that during that phase, you would complain about strong pain and discomfort in your lower abdomen,” Lisa pointed at the diagram, her smile dropped a bit when Len frowned at her. “Of course, you wouldn’t remember it because you didn’t remember anything from this timeline, but you used to bug me and Mick for comfort stuffs. That was the only time you enjoyed having a heating pad pressed up your skin. You wouldn’t sleep if you didn’t have it.”

“Mick?” Len raised an eyebrow. Mick hasn’t come back from their mission, and would possibly still believe that Len was dead. He had no idea if the Mick he would be meeting when the pyro came back would be the same Mick before the Oculus exploded or this universe’s version of Mick.

Lisa nodded. “Yep, Mick. Your long-time best friend. Your partner. _Heatwave_. Pyromaniac idiot. The only Alpha you allow to help out with your heat when you needed a release. Remember?” she said, lifting her body slightly so that she was draped over Len’s lap, her breasts rubbing up his thigh. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. “You do have Mick Rory from your original timeline, right?”

“Yeah,” Len jerkily nodded, slightly gaping at her words. The only Alpha he had allow to help out? Does that mean he and Mick has been fucking regularly?

He didn’t realize he said that out loud until Lisa giggled.

“Oh, you two have been fucking around, alright,” she said, reaching her hand to pinch the tip of his nose playfully. “I used to hope that Mick would go straight and mate with you. As crazy that idiot is, he protects you and never takes advantage on you,” she hummed, a fond smile graced her lips. “Whenever you couldn’t hold it in, cuz, y’know, the toys aren’t enough…,” Lisa giggled as Len flushed slight pink, “…you would go to him. He would fuck the hormones out of your system, never asking for anything in return.”

Len gulped at the information, not knowing the reason behind the discomfort he felt upon imagining another Alpha apart from Barry touching him in such intimate ways.

It felt like he had betrayed his Scarlet Speedster.

“So….,” he started, the saliva he swallowed felt odd against his dry throat. “Why wasn’t I mated to Mick?”

“Oh?” Lisa raised an eyebrow in what it seemed like a pleasant surprise before waving her hand dismissively. “You don’t want to be marked. Rejected the idea of such commitment, even,” she said, eyeing the mark on Len’s neck in amused distaste. “Plus, Mick is gay. He likes Alphas and has no desire to Omegas or Betas,” she shot a leering look at Snow who was gaping in shock. “He is helping you out because he doesn’t want you to suffer in discomfort, or fall to manipulative irresponsible Alphas when you’re at your most vulnurable,” a fond loving smile graced her lips upon saying that, before she grinned at Len. “I think you had a crush on him back when you were younger, but since he is not interested in Omegas, you moved on.”

Oh. That strangely made sense.

It almost a parallel to what had happened to Len in the original timeline. Len crushing on Mick back when they were in their early-twenties, but moved on once he hit thirties because it was obvious that Mick like girls and not boys. He only fucked Len when Len was in a dire need for a sexual release and was not keen on having random strangers fucking him. Len didn’t ask. Mick simply offered in his usual gruff way, stating that he didn’t want Len ended up dead after being raped by random strangers. It was embarrassing that Mick used to have a hard time to get it up for Len, but after a couple of heated romp, the pyro seemed to have nothing against providing Len some outlet for his pent up sexual frustration.

Guess some things did remain the same in this new universe.

_“Lisa.”_

Len blinked, been snapped out of his thought at the uncharacteristic growl from Snow.

“What?” his sister challenged. “I’m merely suggesting….”

“We are close friends. That’s all,” Snow was speaking through gritted teeth. “Nothing else.”

Len had to wonder what had he missed while he was reminiscing his memories earlier.

“Oh, hun…Did you see how he blushed and gets all flustered around you?” Lisa was purring, dangerous and confident. “And you have been checking him out not-so-subtly,” she grinned, teeth white and bright. “I wouldn’t blame you though. Jailbait has nice ass…,” she purred again, crawling over Len’s lap towards Snow on his other side. “I was just saying…just imagine him being sandwiched tight between you and Mick. Ice, lightning and fire—”

Len bristled, teeth bared in a low snarl.

Of course, Lisa wasn’t affected at all.

“Not your speedster, Lenny,” she waved him off with a roll of her eyes. “The other one. The time remnant. It was painful to watch Snow and him dancing around like high schoolers with crush…. honestly Cait,” she sighed, staring at the pouting and blushing Snow with an exasperated gaze. “He wants you. You want him. Just kiss him already. And you two might have been warmed up enough by the time Mick came back—because honestly, I know you fancied Mick too….,” she huffed, blowing random strands off her face when she added, “…you really had that men-with-burn-scars theme going on in your crush list….”

Snow looked positively horrified and scandalized.

She was snapped out of her horror a minute after that and promptly tapped on the screen, pointedly not looking at Lisa. “Discomfort and pain in lower abdomen are normal symptoms for Omega males to have during ovulation—which usually happen a few days before the actual heat started,” she said in cold methodical tone that Len almost pitied her.

_Almost._

His gaze then fell to the screen, at the uterus he knew he had inside him and he felt the urge to cringe again.

Yep. ‘Almost’ was the keyword.

“Snow,” he called out, grinning evilly as she raised her head to stare at him.

“Yes?”

Len grinned deviously, letting all kind of pervertedness and lewd intention leaked from his gaze and the lazy drawl of his voice.

“Barry vibrated. He could control any parts of his body and vibrated them at will.”

Snow stared wide-eyed at him, cheeks flushed deep pink, those soft painted lips slacked open in shock and disbelief.

Len grinned wider, his drawl got even more purposely lewd when he added;

“He is a human vibrator, Snow.”

Snow cursed and slammed the laptop shut as Lisa burst to manic giggles.

“Good one, Lenny!” Lisa cheered, reaching a hand to high-five Len.

Snow scowled.

“I really hate both of you.”

 

=====================================================================================

 

“Am I always this kinky or what?”

His time remnant stammered upon his comment, light sheen of pink dusted the scarred cheek and Barry couldn’t resist but grinned at Sebastian, despite his current condition of being restrained to his own chair.

“It-it’s not like that!”

Barry gave a pointed look at the black cuffs that were cuffing his wrists to the armrest of his chair. “Uh-huh….,” he said, totally not convinced, but honestly didn’t expect any danger because Sebastian was blushing too deep to pose a threat to him. Curling his lips to a smirk, he joked; “Honestly, Bas. If you want to test the idea of having sex with me, you just have to ask. I don’t mind if you want to climb up my lap and have your way with me.”

It was a joke. Brothers do stupid perverted jokes like this right?

But, the way his time remnant spluttered and choked for air was so hilarious that Barry almost felt bad.

_Almost._

“Wh-what?! God, Barry, no! That is—absurd! No. I wasn’t—”

Barry watched in complete amusement when Sebastian let out a soft embarrassed wail before the time remnant collapsed onto his chair opposite to Barry and proceeded to bang his head to the table, all the time murmuring something under his breath. Barry tried to vibrate free from the cuffs, only to be amused that Sebastian had actually used a Cisco-fied cuff on him. 

He couldn’t break free.

“Then, why do you cuff me?”

The banging stop and Barry barely made out the words that Sebastian mumbled out.

“I hate Caitlin.”

“Uh, no you didn’t.”

“I hate her.”

“Nuh-uh,” Barry shook his head, wondering what the hell has brought them to this kind of position. “You like her. Honestly, it’s a wonder that you two haven’t start dating yet,” he deadpanned, grinning when Sebastian lifted his head to give an incredulous look at him. There was faint hint of pink dusting his cheeks, so Barry decided to push. “Heck, with the way you kept ogling her hips and the way she seemed to be fixated on your ass, it’s a miracle you two haven’t even kissed yet.”

“Barry!”

Barry grinned back. Damn, that blush looked adorable. He would’ve pinched those flushed pink cheeks if only he could get his hands out of these cuffs. He tried to vibrate again, but to no avail, his wrists only bumped harmlessly against the cool metal. Mismatched gaze fell to his cuffed wrists, and Barry had a sudden insight that Sebastian wasn’t fully onboard on whatever the heck that had caused him to suddenly cuff Barry to the chair.

The pros of having another speedster as a partner? They were able to complete the work for the day with spare hours heading to the end of their shift. Really. There’s only time-sensitive tests remained in the checklist for the day.

The cons? Barry’s reaction time wasn’t faster than Sebastian when his baby bro decided to push him down onto his chair and cuff him there.

“So…,” he started curiously. “Mind telling me what brought this up?”

“Caitlinwantsmetogiveyousextalk.”

Bless the speedforce for bestowing Barry the ability to understand speed-talk. Sebastian must have sounded like chipmunk on acid to normal ears, since his speech was still fast despite Barry was at the same speed as him.

“And why would she want you to give me a sex talk?” Barry said, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline in surprise and confusion. “I’ve read everything that you have given me. That isn’t enough?”

Sebastian’s eyes lit up with hope when he gazed at Barry. “Do you read about the biology of the genders? How your body and Lenny’s body work? How different his biology is compared to us? What to expect if you really knocked him up? How to be a good Alpha for him when he’s pregnant?”

Barry stared blankly at his time remnant.

“Please say ‘yes’, Barry. Please. Then we can skip this embarrassing talk and forget that this has ever happened,” Sebastian pleaded, hands clasped in front of him like he was praying.

“Uh, no,” Barry said, retrieving all the information he has read last week. “Most of the stuffs you gave for me to read mainly focus on the mating parts, birth controls and such. Not many details on the biology.”

“Of course,” Sebastian groaned, throwing his arms into the air. “Because scholars out there found the study about our biology is not interesting and important.”

Barry stared at him curiously. 

“How different is our biology compared to him?” He asked, lips twitched to a smirk when Sebastian stiffened in discomfort. “Because when I read the basic biology, it seemed that everyone in my original timeline is Beta.”

“Wait, everyone is Beta?” Sebastian finally meet Barry’s gaze, curiousity twinkled in his mismatched eyes. “So, you and Lenny wouldn’t be able to have your own kids if you’re in your original timeline?”

“Well…,” Barry tilted his head, thinking. “There’s adoption. And surrogate babies. But yeah, we won’t be able to have kids that are uniquely ours,” he hummed, internally scowling at the idea.

“So you guys would be like, gay couple?”

Barry snorted. “Aren’t we a gay couple, though? Two men in a relationship together?”

“Nuh-uh,” Sebastian shook his head slowly, face awed and curious. “You’re straight couple, Barry. Because your relationship with Lenny can produce offspring. On the other hand, pairs like Caitlin and I, or Singh and his husband, are the gay couples. Because both Caitlin and I are Alphas, while Singh and Rob are both Omegas. We can’t produce offspring, unless if there is a surrogate or donor involved.”

Barry took in that information slowly, digesting the bizarre idea that he and Len are the straight couple here and not Caitlin and Bas. It took him a while, but then he has properly digested the idea, a soft exhale of breath escaped his lips.

“Whoa. That’s…”

“How weird is this to you?”

The question was tentative, but the curiousity was overwhelming—seeping into his voice, spread into those mismatched eyes, the desire to study of a scientist and the curiousity of a child—that Barry found the corner of his lips tugged to an amused fond smile. His time remnant was like a curious child—an endearing child who Barry would love to glomp and hug if only he could phase out of these cuffs—

Wait, why was it he has to be cuffed?

“Oh,” Sebastian said, one hand reached up to scratch the back of his neck, his smile was sheepish when he met Barry’s gaze. “Lisa said to cuff you first so that you didn’t try to run away.”

Barry raised an eyebrow. 

“Seriously?”

“Len tried to run away! We can’t be sure that you wouldn’t do the same!”

Barry grinned. “So….Len is having the exact same talk, right now?”

“Yep.”

_“Cooool.”_

“You seem awfully calm and okay with this….,” Sebastian cringed, although he did move to uncuff Barry. “Promise that you wouldn’t run?” he asked, almost halfway to the lock.

“Promise,” Barry nodded. “I wanna learn anyway. It should be interesting to study…”

“Forever the science geek….,” Sebastian retorted, rolling his eyes with a fond smile.

“Hi kettle, I’m pot,” Barry shot back, rubbing his wrists once they were free and scooted closer to Sebastian’s table. 

Their chairs bumped against one another, so Barry draped his arm over his time remnant’s armrest, locking them together so that his chair didn’t accidentally wheeled away. He placed his chin over the polished surface of the table—Sebastian was adamant to make them polar opposites, so yes, this table was polished daily and organized in a way that would make OCD people squealed in delight—as he waited for the screen of his time remnant’s laptop to load. He idly wondered what would happen if Singh came storming into here and witness him having the sex talk with his supposedly baby brother. Singh would’ve blown his top, and berated them for slacking off at work, only to probably gape in disbelief seeing the stacks of case files both of them had processed throughout the day.

Having another speedster as a partner and not an enemy was overwhelmingly awesome.

The next evil speedster who tried to wreak havoc in Central could cry in the depths of hell.

Barry snickered.

“We’re really different, y’know…?”

“Huh?” He stopped snickering, eyes swivelled to his side so that he could look at his time remnant who was staring down at him like he just sprouted wings and duplicate heads. Barry shrugged. “Yeah, I guess? We have experienced different things…? So that’s why we might be a bit different from each other? We can’t have all Barry Allen across the timeline and multiverse to have the exact same personality and history,” he rambled, staring off into the ceiling for a moment, mind pondering. “Hey, you think there’s some sort of evil version of us out there, somewhere in the multiverse? Do you think we can win in a race against them if they existed?”

“God, Barry, please no. Don’t jinx us like that, please,” Sebastian shuddered, fingers pausing over the keyboard, a scowl made its way onto his face. “I don’t want the next evil speedster we have to fight is an alternate version of us—god forbid. I rather face an ice menace rather than an evil version of us,” he grumbled, fingers dissolving into a blur over the keyboard of his work computer before shifting back to the laptop. He double-tapped on the touchpad, enlarging the image. “Right…learning time.”

Barry impersonated sunshine, beaming brightly, eyes squished adorably, teeth flashed in a wide grin as he tried to project the image of an excited kid that was about to learn something new.

He must have looked ridiculous if the exasperated sigh from his time remnant was any indicator.

“How familiar are you with our own biology?” Sebastian said, pointing at the enlarged image on the screen.

“Well…,” Barry scrutinized the image, his forehead creased to a frown as his mind reeling back to the little pieces of information he had read last week. “I know that Alpha and Beta males aren’t much different. We’re not as complicated as our female counterpart or Omega males. We kinda have an extra gland that make us different than the rest….?”

“Well, that’s good enough,” Sebastian nodded, enlarging the image, eyes steeled as if he was dead focus to be as clinical as possible. “That extra gland is what we call ‘Alpha gland’. To make it simple, it secretes the special hormones that driven us into our occasional rut, and also the instinctive rut in the presence of Omega in heat. Of course, it is responsible for numerous other stuffs to. Our ability to knot, our natural aggressive nature, the urge to pick up a fight for the sake of defending what we think is ours and also the endurance of our sperms…”

Barry blinked when Sebastian trailed off to a complete silence. He tore his gaze off the diagram and rolled his eyes towards his time remnant, wondering about the sudden stop.

He was greeted with half-awed half-embarrassed gaze from those mismatched eyes.

“Um, you okay, Bas?”

“How are you not frazzled at all with this?”

Barry honestly wasn’t expecting that question. He took in the slight hint of pink on Sebastian’s cheeks, and been reminded that it must have been overwhelmingly embarrassing for his baby bro to give this kind of talk to him. He, on the other hand, wasn’t embarrassed at all. It was a whole new world for him, and this kind of biology was something he was curious to know and explore. A whole new science to learn.

And Barry Allen is a science geek.

So, nuff sayin’ he was going to go all geeky over this.

Hence, he shrugged and gave a sly smirk at the time remnant. “It’s new information for me. I like to learn,” he answered simply, and when Sebastian was still gaping, he pointed out; “Hey, what do you mean with the endurance of our sperms?”

That snapped Sebastian out of his gaping spell.

“Oh,” he stated, leaning back into his own chair. “It’s particularly difficult to impregnate an Omega male if you’re not Alpha. Omega males are naturally more defensive than their female counterparts—their trust is harder to gain, even harder to keep. And centuries of evolution developed their reproductive system to the point that their eggs are twice harder to penetrate by common sperms,” he explained, hands moving subconsciously as he spoke. “Even in cultured, controlled environment of a laboratory, the fertilization between a Beta male’s sperms with an Omega male’s egg is difficult. It is possible, but you really need Lady Luck in your pocket for it to happen—and that happens in like one out of a million chances,” he popped his lips thoughtfully, eyes swivelled to stare at the ceiling. “Alphas, on the other hand, have a more, _resilient_ and strong sperms to endure the challenge. Even then, successful fertilization only happened during the peak of an Omega’s heat, where their whole system is at most vulnerable.”

Barry nodded, taking solace in the sudden silence to digest the information. None of his reading materials last week had mentioned to this kind of depth of his own biology, so to have his time remnant explaining things like this to him was super helpful.

Odd, awkward and tiny bit hilarious but still super helpful.

“Heat and rut are essentially the same thing, right?” Barry asked, moving his head so that his chin was resting on Sebastian’s armrest instead.

“Yes and no,” the time remnant shrugged. “Every Omega and female Beta goes into heat, regardless of their gender,” he said, gaze flickered briefly to meet Barry’s curious one before he averted it to stare at the screen instead. “It depends on their hormones though, and if they are taking suppressants or similar drugs. Normal cycle ranged between 28 days to 45 days, depending on the individual themselves. The more mature the Omega was, the harder it will be for them to resist the needs to have an Alpha knotted inside them, but then again, this depends on their own hormones and mental strength,” he explained, shuddering slightly. “The normal cycle started with ovulation—although in the case of pregnancy, ovulation would very rarely happened—followed by the heat-induced urges to fuck the next few days and it’ll eventually simmered down to the needs to be comforted by their mate. Once the heat ended, there will be a period of time before the next cycle started.”

“Like Len?”

“Exactly.”

Barry nodded. “And rut?”

“The equivalent of heat to Alphas males. The only difference is that rut is by far worse and could potentially be dangerous to everyone around the Alpha in rut,” Sebastian said with a light wince, turning his head to look at Barry while pointing at his jaw. “Remember what you feel when you break my jaw?”

“Sorry,” Barry tipped his head, sheepish and apologetic.

“No harm done.”

“But still…,” Barry sighed and reached an arm around his time remnant to squeeze the other speedster tight against his side, being mindful around the edges of bandages he could feel at the tip of his fingers. “I don’t know what had gotten into me. I’m not usually violence-prone…but I was angry, and I somehow think that you’re a threat—”

“—that is going to take Len away from you,” Sebastian cut him off, waving a hand dismissively, although he did lean a bit closer into Barry’s one-arm embrace. “You might not know what had gotten into you, but I do,” he grinned, flicking his fingers over Barry’s forehead. “That, my 16-minutes-older twin, is your heat-induced rut urging you to protect your mate. It’s perfectly normal, especially when I barged in with intention to fight. You wouldn’t be able to stop yourself, when I was there as a potential threat to Len’s safety,” he teased, although there was another shudder rolled down his body. “I should be grateful that it was heat-induced rut and not your real rut. Because the last time that happened, I went into a violent rampage that ended in a bloody mess and the principal had to send me into a lockdown.”

“Wait, what?” Barry blinked, his forehead creased again in confusion. “Are you saying that we have two kind of ruts?”

“Uh, yes...I think they explained it in one of the books I gave you?” Sebastian frowned back and when Barry shook his head, he tipped his head to the side, pink flush crept up his neck. “Well, both of them will throw our libido haywire and we will feel the urge to fight and fuck—yep, that’s why Beta employers originally have issues to hire Alphas, because of our tendency to fight when in rut—anywaaayyy, heat-induced rut is far easier to control, because our main priority is our mate. If our mate called us back to a retreat, we will, in a heartbeat. Common joke is that Alphas in heat-induced rut are very whipped to their respective mates, because back then during the caveman era, it was done to impress the mate, cuz, y’know, survival purposes,” he choked a shaky laugh.

Barry smiled fondly, remembering his own experience with Len last week and couldn’t help but note the truth in the time remnant’s words. 

Although, he still had some possessive edge regarding Len, which, if he was understanding his reading right, that was to be blamed to his impulsive act marking Len.

Len, who was currently asleep, heartbeats calm and slow, and was potentially burrowed underneath a bundle of blankets in a purposely cooled room.

It still freaked him out that he now knew exactly what Len was up to due to the psychosis bond he gained from marking the older man, but it soothed his possessive edge, to know that Len was safe somewhere out there. It made his day at work much easier, to know that Len wasn’t in any immediate danger.

Barry shook his head when he started to feel the lonely longingness and the tingle of the skin on his neck, that urged him to demand Len to complete the bond. He looked up at Sebastian, lips curled to a smirk as he tried to distract himself by asking another question;

“And the other kind of rut?”

Sebastian visibly flinched. “That…is usually called ‘Alpha’s rage’….,” he exhaled, there was a shaky edge in his voice. “There’s a lot of theories on how it happened—some said it’s hormones, some suggested it is linked to stress level of the Alpha and so many other external factors—but not all Alpha lived out their life and was able to experience it. It’s very rare, and the Alphas who experienced this, are usually associated with strong bloodline, albeit some would equate them to dangerous beasts.”

“And you have experienced it,” Barry pointed out.

“ _We_ have experienced it,” Sebastian retorted.

“I don’t remember,” Barry grinned back, though his grin fell when the frown remained on the time remnant’s face. “Hey,” he called out, placing one hand over Sebastian’s, only to be shocked when his touch was evaded.

“Sorry,” Sebastian spat out. “I’m not particularly fond of the memory of our first—and hopefully last—natural rut.”

Barry frowned. “What happened?”

“We almost killed someone,” Sebastian mumbled, lips twisted to a grimace.

That had Barry flabbergasted.

“Wait, what?!”

Barry was expecting embarrassing stories, perhaps one that told the story of him acting under the rut’s influence and embarrassed himself by trying to woo any Betas or Omegas to get wild underneath the sheet.

He wasn’t expecting killing to be into the equation.

“Yeah,” Sebastian shuddered underneath his confused gaze. “First year of high school, and it’s almost the end of the term too. We had been bullied the whole year, but I don’t think much about it, y’know? The stress is there, but worrying about it would only mean that I suffered twice…,” he exhaled short shaky breaths. “And Tony and his gang caught me that one day. Didn’t remember much about it because I learnt to shut down my mind to stop the pain—the only escape I have, because Tony has been targeting me, _us_ , since we’re one of those few meek Alphas. You know how much it inflate the ego of a Beta like him to have an Alpha like us a bloody beaten mess at his feet,” he started to ramble and Barry decided to not point out that he didn’t even know that Tony was a Beta and just let Sebastian speak. “So yeah, usual stuffs, they cornered us at the main hall—because why hide the fact that you’re able to kick an Alpha around? Other Alphas are impossible for them to touch since they are all very aggressive and dominant—and I was pretty sure they cracked few of my ribs before I blacked out…”

Barry found himself to gently squeeze his time remnant’s arm. Assuringly, comfortingly.

Sebastian gave him a shaky smile. “So yeah, the next thing I knew Iris was screaming and I actually had her pinned to the lockers and Tony and his gang was all scattered all over the floor with various degree of injuries,” he shuddered, leaning a bit closer into Barry’s touch. “The school send me to a quarantine, but I wasn’t punished because the whole school witnessed them provoking me, which stripped their rights to press charges on me since I was defending myself. The only one who has the rights to press charges on me was Iris because I may or may not has been touching her inappropriately—she never told me anything—but she didn’t. Though, she did suggest for me to transfer to Dalton when uncle called in to check on me—so I guess I did something to her after all,” he ended it with a nonchalant tone, although Barry could sense the pain in his voice.

He made a mental note to ask Iris about it later.

“I thought rut is simply having the urge to fuck….,” Barry started, trying to pull back his baby brother from the increasingly depressing aura emitting from the time remnant.

Sebastian gave a short dry laugh. “That is a common misconception. While heat is the survival process of an Omega’s system to fulfil the needs to reproduce, rut is the regression of an Alpha to the most basis, most primitive instinctive setting of their mind. Most Alphas have sex and mating in their heads, so when the rut strikes, they turned to lustful beasts,” he laughed again, this time more bitter and sharp. “I was kinda messed up to have my rut strikes when the only thing in my mind was to defend myself.”

“I think Tony deserves it. He has been bullying you— _us_ —for the whole year before we snapped,” Barry said, rubbing small soothing circles on the tensed muscles of Sebastian’s shoulders. “How bad was his injuries?”

“If Iris wasn’t lying, they all got discharged from hospital few broken bones and lots of bruises…?” he shuddered, frowning a bit. “But there was so much blood, so I think she is lying and their injuries were a lot worse than she told me,” he sighed, leaning closer into Barry’s touch. “I guess I’m lucky that they are discharged earlier than me. At least they aren’t hurt like I was.”

“And what were your injuries, _kid_?”

Barry received a smack at the back of his head for that nickname.

“You’re not qualified to call me ‘kid’…,” Sebastian grumbled but there was a hint of smile on his face. “A few broken bones here and there, and a punctured lung. I think I had a concussion, but I don’t exactly remember it.”

“Christ, Bas,” Barry hissed, his hand stopped moving altogether. “You let them hit you to that point? Damn it, _kid_.”

Sebastian scowled and smacked Barry again. “You can’t call me ‘kid’ when you’re a kid yourself…”

“Hey, I’m the older twin,” Barry reminded, grinning smugly when the time remnant glared at him. “It’s big brother privilege to call the younger sibling anything I wish to.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “I’m demanding a rematch. You CAN’T be the older twin.”

“Already did, kiddo. Roll with it.”

“I refuse.”

“Nuh-uh. I’m digging this new dynamic of having you as my baby brother.”

“God damn it, Barry.”

“Come give your big brother a huuuuuggggg~!”

“How did your mate could even stand you—unf!!”

And their chairs gave up as they both tumbled to the ground, Barry pouncing onto Sebastian in a huge surprise glomp. It was awkward position, but Barry kept his arms locked tight around his time remnants body in a gentle hug. He started giggling when the time remnant slowly returned the hug.

They totally missed the very amused Singh at the door, who was counting down from ten.

Once the countdown hit zero, Singh smiled and bellowed;

“ALLENS!!!”

 

=====================================================================================

 

“Come again?” Len spluttered out, mind not fully awake from his afternoon nap—he was feeling a bit sluggish after the whole sex talk—as he tried to muster enough ice into his vein to give a cold glare at the two women sitting by the edge of his bed.

“Spread your legs, Snart,” Snow said softly, although the commanding tone was clear in her voice.

“My, my, Dr.Snow…,” Len drawled, although he did pull the blanket a bit higher up his chest. “ I’m very flattered,” he winked and added, “…but I’m sorry, I’m taken.”

“Lenny,” Lisa rolled her eyes and strode closer, her strong fingers gripped his ankles tight. “Let the doctor have a look at you, will ya?”

“You want her to be in between my legs?” Len frowned, a hint of betrayal tainted his voice. “What happened to your whole principle of protecting my honour after all of my sacrifices to raise you?”

Lisa let out an insufferable sigh.

“I’m just going to check on your stitches, Snart…,” Snow said, patient and methodical—and god damn, now Len knew that he had met his match. The cold commanding tone really lived up to the doctor’s name.

Seeing that Lisa has started to rip the blankets from his grip and he only wore his boxer briefs underneath, Len fought to wrestle the blankets again, only to growl in disbelief when she stripped the blankets off him. Lisa grinned and threw a white towel to his face.

“Cover your dick, brother. I’m not professional enough to not react to your goods,” his sister has the balls to grin at him. Seeing that Snow wasn’t budging from her position by his thigh, Len sighed and laid back across the bed, placing the towel over his lap.

“Underwear off,” Lisa instructed with a manic gleeful grin that Len returned with a scowl.

“Don’t you guys need my mate to be present to do this kind of thing to me?” Len grumbled, flushing slightly when he begrudgingly shimmied himself out of the briefs, kicking the clothing off his bed. “Honestly, Snow…What would Barry say?”

“You have me as a family representative,” Lisa grinned.

Len glared at her.

“Oh, shush, Snart,” Snow huffed, the bed dipped as she climbed closer, her face cold and unchanging when she gently spread his legs. “I stitched you up when you’re still torn apart, gaping and dribbling Barry’s cum. I have seen worse.”

Len groaned and pulled a pillow atop his face, hiding his blush when he felt her gloved fingers touched him. He had to give some credits to her though. She was professional. Her touches were all clinical, and Len has no doubt that if he removed this pillow from his face, her face would reflect her professionalism. He tensed when she prodded lightly at his hole, but there was no pain—he knew that all of his injuries had fully healed last week, as odd as that sounded like.

“Is it bad?” Len heard Lisa’s voice questioned, and he stifle his groan against the pillow. Why oh why must Lisa be present to witness this?

“Surprisingly, no,” Snow hummed, and Len briefly felt a little tingling sensation before the pressure of her fingers on his sensitive skin disappeared altogether. “I have remove the stitches…,” she paused, and Len was tempted to peek a look to see her expression. 

“But….?” Lisa pressed, voice edgy and worried.

“Are you sure you’re not a meta, Snart?” Her voice was baffled and Len had to remove the pillow from his face when she addressed him. 

“No,” he grunted out, completely not pleased to know that Snow was still between his spread legs. He felt the threat of an Alpha, even though she didn’t pose any harm at all. “I’m not a meta,” he reconfirmed when she stared at him in disbelief. “If I am, what do you think my power is? My sparkling personality?”

Lisa rolled her eyes.

“This is odd,” Snow pondered out loud, ducking underneath the towel as if to take another look, totally ignoring the blush that warmed Len’s cheeks. “You’re completely healed. It’s like you have a healing power that rival Barr—”

“OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!”

She was cut off with a bright flash of light followed by a high-pitched shocked scream.

A lot of things happened in the same time.

Lisa whirled around towards the door at the source of the scream, her hair bounced menacingly, her gold gun ready to fire. Snow placed herself between Len and the door, her hands started to glow and Len watched her red hair turned unforgiving platinum. Though, what had his interest and shocked him the most was the face of Henry Allen who was standing by the door, watching the three of them with complete amusement on his face. The older man's hand rested loosely around the waist of a woman, whose back was facing Len but still looked familiar all the same.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD LENNY WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO CATCH YOU IN SUCH COMPROMISING POSITION??” the woman yelled, slowly turning around to glare at him, while pointedly not looking at his towel-covered crotch.

Lisa’s gun slipped from her grip.

“What the hell?!” Len heard his sister whispered.

“Mr. Garrick?” Snow blurted out, the glow in her hands receded.

Len didn’t have the time to ponder when his eyes met Henry Allen’s amused gaze and he suddenly felt embarrassed, ashamed and nervous all in the same time.

This wasn’t how he imagined he would meet his (hopefully) future father-in-law….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I solemnly swear I regret this. 
> 
> BRB, I'm gonna go and commit seppuku, or drown myself in shame or anything.
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and do leave your thoughts! I know this update is me writing under the influence of cold meds, so it may be slightly loopy than usual. ;)
> 
> Like usual, comments and feedbacks are like Len and his puns. It made my day and encourage me to write more.


	10. “You are Mayor…Snart…” - Cisco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, they met their Earth-2 friends back. Jay had a moment of nostalgia while the rest prepare for a new addition to Earth-1. Cisco found out about Thawne's dirty little secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually love Jay and Barry as some sort of father-son relationship. I hope you agree with me.
> 
> And there might be some triggering implied act of pedophilia (no it's not but Cisco is not a reliable narrator)...so, yeah...
> 
> As per usual, this is un-betaed and I may or may not go through this once more to edit it, so please forgive any errors. Happy reading!

“You are Mayor…Snart…”

Harry sighed, a heavy exhale of breath that escaped his mouth as he stared at the little scientist.

Cisco, on the other hand, still have index finger pointing at the doppelganger of his Alpha, eyes wide and awed despite the bristling Lisa who was possessively wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Yes,” Earth-2 Lisa squared her shoulders, standing with full authority although the bewilderment was there in her expression.

“Really now?” Barry blurted out, only to wince at the sharp glare that was directed towards him. 

He stepped back a bit too defensively, ducking his head to the side when she kept that sharp glare on him. It took approximately 45 seconds Barry to notice that her glare was actually focused on the way he had one arm casually wrapped around Len’s waist.

Len, who now very pointedly not looking in Jay’s direction.

Jay snorted under his breath and gave the younger speedster a teasing smirk when Barry shot him a questioning gaze.

Oblivious to the exchanges between both speedsters, Cisco went on, apparently still hyped at the revelation of their guest. “I thought Mayor Snart is…well, Snart! Your brother!” he crowed. “I mean like, you’re—eek!!”

He then promptly squeaked and clamped his hands over his mouth when both Lisa shifted their identical glare at him. Lisa spun their position, swiftly and very casually pinned Cisco over the control table, knocking some devices in the process. Her lips curled to seductive smirk and for once, she smiled at her doppelganger when Mayor Lisa Snart strutted towards them, looking down at the pinned Cisco with equally dangerous smirk.

“Now, now, doll…,” Earth-2 Lisa purred, tracing one sharp manicured finger over Cisco’s soft round jaw. “You’re saying that I’m _what_ , exactly?”

“Yes, Cisco honey…What were you going to say…?” Lisa purred, voice dripping with sugar and toxic, her grip tightened over Cisco’s wrists as if she was about to devour Cisco right there without mercy.

Barry was totally not imagining how Lisa-Cisco-Lisa sandwich would look like and whether Len sandwich would be hotter and much more pleasurable.

Nope. He was not imagining anything.

But damn, the Snart siblings really have the hot and sexy gene in their DNA.

“Scarlet, stop drooling over my sister,” Len muttered, elbowing Barry’s ribs with one sharp jab. 

“Am not drooling,” Barry muttered back, rubbing one hand over the spot that was elbowed because Len apparently has sharp elbows. “Just wondering why the heck you Snarts are so damn beautiful.”

He said that as a casual observation but the subtle light tint of pink that dusted Len’s cheeks was worth the second jab of elbow to his ribs. Barry grinned, slipping his other arm around Len’s waist, spinning them around until he too had Len pressed up against the wall they were previously leaning against as he sensed another chance to tease—

“Ahem.”

—only to scowl at Sebastian when the time remnant cleared his throat to interrupt all the molesting that was about to happen in the room.

Geez, he needed to hook up his baby brother with Caitlin ASAP before Bas continued being such a little cockblocker.

Len took the chance to press the freezing tip of his cold gun directly at Barry’s abs, the pink tint was still there on his cheeks although Barry could feel the mixed emotions Len was feeling. Len’s emotions were in chaos, as Barry could sense that the older man didn’t want to be interrupted, wanting to touch and to be touched but there was also a thick layer of embarrassment that was much stronger than the desire—all of these were wrapped up underneath a cold exterior.

Barry was starting to like this psychic bond they had.

His unmarked neck tingled in needs and he promptly started to mentally reciting Dr.Wells biography in reverse to keep his mind occupied. He didn’t want to try to coerce Len into marking him right in front of two Lisa.

Death wish. Death wishes. Barry wasn’t _that_ suicidal.

“I’m sorry, Harry, Jay, for these unsightly behaviours…,” Sebastian smiled to the rest of their guests, completely ignoring the scowls from Barry and both Lisa.

He mentally thanked Jesse who had immediately dragged Wally out for a date around Central (much to Harry’s chargin) and also that pesky robber who decided to give Joe an overtime with the paperworks tonight. 

He wouldn’t have the guts to speak like this if either of those two were present to glare at him. 

He then lightly smacked the back of Barry’s head, glaring at his ‘older twin’ to behave, before adding, “…did something happen that Miss Mayor herself have to come to our Earth?”

Earth-2 Lisa promptly straightened her position, strutting towards Barry and Sebastian, the air of confidence and authority around her almost made both speedsters cowered underneath her gaze. She eyed them both curiously, her stares lingered a bit too long on Sebastian’s scars and Barry’s hands around Len’s waist before she thrust her hand forward, expecting a handshake.

“Dr.Wells explained everything to me,” she started, squeezing Barry’s hand firmly when he was the first to take her hand, “…that he was responsible for the creation of metas in our Earth and _both_ of you are the important parties that get rid of Zoom from the multiverse. Therefore, I wish to thank all of you for your contribution to Earth-2 Central City…,” she shifted towards Sebastian, gripping his hand firmly as her eyes narrowed at the scars, curious and wondering. “…for saving our life from Zoom’s reign of terror,” she smiled a bit, squeezing his hand gently before letting go. “Although, from the stories he told me, only one of you survived while the other chose to die for the multiverse…”

Barry cringed. Crap. So Earth-2 people weren’t affected by his action of changing the universe.

“Yes,” Harry interjected, eyeing both Sebastian and Barry with that deep calculative frown before shifting to the way Lisa was still pinning Cisco. “Before we parted, there was only one Barry Allen and neither of you nor Cisco are getting frisky with your supposed enemies….,” he ended his words with a baffled and judging look, eyeing both Barry and Cisco with narrowed eyes.

“Well…,” Sebastian started, turning around to give an expecting look at Barry and Len.

“Um…,” Barry gulped, scratching the back of his neck.

“Ah, actually, it’s a bit of—”

“—kinda complicated story?”

“Ah, you see...”

“Um, I, uh, how do I put this…”

Len’s brows twitched.

“He—well, _we_ …”

Len resisted the urge to yell.

“What Bas was trying to say was that _I_ —”

Len outwardly let out a miserable sigh.

“Scarlet tried to change the past,” he interrupted, genuinely annoyed now. “He tried to save his mother but was stopped midway—”

“By me,” Jay interjected, seeming to catch on the story now. “But something changed?” he asked, shifting his gaze towards both Barry.

“ _Everything_ changed,” Barry mumbled, mentally cringing at the judgemental looks he was receiving. “Although, to be fair, I think it changed to a better version. Excluding all the weird Alpha-Beta-Omega things, I’m pretty happy with how everything else turned out,” he added, a bit firmer now. 

The warm gaze Barry directed towards both his time remnant and his mate halted the angry tirade that was about to lurch out of Harry’s mouth.

Harry exhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to keep his yell in. “ _What_ has changed, Barry?”

Barry was startled a bit at the collected calm voice that Harry was using, but did not push his luck as he hurriedly answered the question. “For one, Bas is alive,” he said, pointing at his time remnant. “Caitlin had ice powers while Cisco and Lisa is in a relationship,” he nodded at the pair, wincing a bit at Lisa’s sardonic smirk before he added, “…and apparently I had a friendship with the Rogues, specifically Len and Lisa long before I changed the universe. They even helped us out with Zoom—”

“I didn’t remember that—” Harry frowned, only to suddenly sway on his spot, one hand clutched on his head while the other gripped tight on the edge of the table before Mayor Lisa rushed to help him.

Barry and Len exchanged a look, recognizing the act almost instantly and waited until Harry got out of his dizzy spell.

“What…,” Harry whispered, squeezing his eyes shut as if he had a horrible headache. “What was that?!” he hissed, staring at Barry in confusion.

“Assuming that you experience the same thing as we did…,” Len drawled lazily, exchanging yet another glance with Barry.

“It’s the memory that you’re supposed to have of this timeline,” Barry resumed, shrugging his shoulders a bit. “It happens to us too—me and Len, I mean, since both of us have no memories whatsoever regarding this particular timeline.”

Harry wasn’t impressed.

“Barry…,” the genius scientist started. “I warned you to not mess with time…”

Barry winced.

“Dr.Wells,” though, he was saved when Jay spoke up. “I believe that Barry now is perfectly aware of the consequences of messing with time,” he said with a calm soothing voice, giving a discreet wink at Barry while having one hand resting placatingly over Harry’s shoulder. “After seeing how much of the universe he had changed, I believe that he wouldn’t do it again…,” he shifted until his gaze rested on both Barry, “…would _you_?”

There was a hint of warning and parental authority over those words that both Barry and Sebastian nodded and exclaimed hurriedly;

“I won’t do it again!”

Jay beamed and patted Harry’s shoulders again, only to turn on his heels towards Len, his eyes twinkled with mischievous amusement when he stared at the thief. Jay gave Len a big grin, causing the thief to flush to a light pink and tried to avoid meeting his gaze, something that immediately attracted Barry’s and Mayor Lisa’s attention.

“Len? What is bothering you?” Barry asked, voice dropping to the smooth gentle Alpha tone.

Len really tried to resist his natural urge to respond to Barry. He failed, and very soon he had stepped to the side to half-hide behind Barry, trying his best to avoid meeting Jay’s teasing eyes.

“That…is not something that I expected to see,” Earth-2 Lisa mumbled, running a hand over her styled hair as she watched in amazement at the way Barry automatically curled an arm around Len’s waist. “Honestly, Lenny, don’t you already have a girlfriend? That doctor?” she frowned, pointing at the hallway that was heading to Caitlin’s lab.

Barry stiffened, his hold on Len’s waist turned to a tight clawed grip, his glare turned vicious and deadly.

“Pardon me?”

Sebastian sweatdropped, mismatched eyes shooting frantic look at Lisa, only to scowl in distaste to see that the Golden Glider was currently occupied on wrecking Cisco to a complete moaning mess to even pay attention to the territorial way Barry was holding Len.

The fact that they all managed to ignore the almost R-rated scene between Lisa and Cisco as they all stared at Barry and Len had amazed Sebastian the most.

Earth-2 Lisa either didn’t notice the tension in Barry’s voice or simply wanted to poke at the hornet’s nest because she immediately added as soon as Barry growled his words out;

“I mean, why else would Lenny have a pretty girl between his legs?” she gave a somewhat confused innocent smile (Sebastian highly doubt the innocent part) and pointed behind her where Earth-1 Lisa was trying to drag Cisco away. “Although I admit that it’s a bit kinky of them to have my doppelganger watch, but it wasn’t that much of a stretch…”

Len and Sebastian started to panic when he saw lightning blazed in Barry’s eyes.

“Barry, wait—!” Sebastian yelled when Barry was about to flash out, heading to Caitlin’s lab, he assumed. 

He blocked Barry’s path with his own body, wincing when the impact caused his own stitches to reopen, slick blood seeped through the loose bandages round his torso and slowly dampening his shirt. Though, he held on, sending a grateful look at Len when the thief did a swift movement that locked Barry’s arms still. Len kept his territorial mate pressed flush to his chest while Sebastian helped him to keep Barry from moving on his intended territorial rampage. Together, they held Barry still until the speedster seemed to be able to fight against his territorial instinct and think clearly again. It took a couple of minutes, and they must have made quite a scene, but Barry soon relaxed a bit, no longer resisting although the tension of his clenched jaw was prominent when he spat out;

“Explanation, _now_.”

“Chill it, Scarlet,” Len soothed, although his lock on Barry’s arms tightened. “Snow was just checking on my stitches…,” he mentally sighed in relief when Barry seemed to relax a bit at his explanation. “That’s why Lisa was there, as a family representative since _you_ , my mate, was still at work. We figured to not disturb you.”

“Really?” Barry whispered, body slightly shaking.

“Yep,” Len finally let go of his lock on Barry’s arms, nodding at Sebastian to let his speedster free too. He ruffled Barry’s hair and planted a quick kiss on the nape of Barry’s neck. “I’m not cheating on you, kid. Cool it.”

Though, their momentary calm was destroyed when the tattle-tale clicks of Caitlin’s heels entered the cortex. The doctor immediately screamed once she saw them, specifically once her gaze laid on Sebastian’s drenched shirt.

“WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE??!”

Jay was the only who has the guts to snort an amused laugh.

“Lover’s spat, Dr. Snow. Mayor Snart has misunderstood regarding your earlier…um… _position_ …and suggested that Mr.Snart is cheating on Barry while having a relationship with you,” he grinned, seemingly to have made his own conclusion from his observation. “Barry here has quite a possessive streak.”

“And you believe that? Barry, you know that I’m now responsible for his well-being!” Caitlin scowled, disbelief dripped from her voice. She has her eyes squeezed shut for a moment, as if she was restraining herself from icing anyone as she snarled at Barry before shifting slightly so that she could direct her glare at Sebastian. “And you, how many times have I told you to take good care of your injuries and NOT have your stitches reopen?”

Barry and Sebastian gulped, eyes fixed on the tip of Caitlin’s hair that have slowly turned platinum.

They were fucked as hell, weren’t they?

 

=====================================================================================

 

“Stay still.”

“M’trying...owwww!!!!”

Sebastian glared down at Caitlin. He knew that she did that on purpose.

As if sensing his glare, Caitlin rolled her eyes upwards to meet his glare. “Told you that the next time I have to re-stitch your wound, it’s gonna be painful,” she smirked, hands deftly weaving the open wound close again. “Though, on the bright side, since you now can feel pain on your wound, we can assume that there isn’t much of Lady Prick’s venom in your system and you can heal quickly again in a couple of hours or within tomorrow.”

“You’re a sadist, Dr. Snow…,” he grimaced once she got to the last stitch, earning him another jolt of sharp pain when she tugged a bit too hard on the needle before snipping the thread off. “Ow.”

“Serve you right,” she hummed, reaching out for the bandages now. “I told you to be very careful.”

“I can’t let Barry goes on a violent rampage on you,” he retorted, lifting his arms slightly to allow easier access for her to bandage him. “He will regret it later. He isn’t thinking straight when the jealousy strikes.”

“I am capable enough to ice his ass if he tries,” she countered, scooting closer as she tightened the bandages. “I don’t like using my powers. Doesn’t mean that I couldn’t use it if the situation calls for it.”

“I’ll try to remember that…,” he drawled, dropping his arms once the bandages were secured and smiled at her. “Thank you, Cait.”

“Try to not make me worry over you again,” she huffed, although there was a hint of smile on her lips.

She then handed him a STARlabs sweatshirt, his bloodied shirt had obviously gone into their laundry room downstairs. He was halfway tugging the sweatshirt down his head when there was a tentative knock on the door.

“Dr. Snow?”

He heard Caitlin scooted away, her warmth no longer resided between his thighs as the clicking of her heels echoed in the empty lab again.

“Mayor Snart,” Caitlin greeted the exact moment Sebastian had wriggled his head into the collar of the sweatshirt.

“Oh,” Mayor Snart blinked upon seeing him, a sheepish somewhat guilty smile made its way onto her face when her gaze fell to the bandages on his torso. “I’m sorry, Mr. Allen,” she cleared her throat, looking a tad bit vulnerable now. “I didn’t know my joke was crossing the line.”

“It’s okay,” he waved her off, giving the exhausted-looking mayor a smile. “You’re very much like our Lisa, so I’m used to such thing.”

“I’m still sorry,” she bowed her head, genuinely apologizing. “It’s just…he…,” she halted, her blue eyes glazed slightly before she tried to cover it up with a choked laugh. “He looks so much like my own Lenny…act the same too…,” she smiled, giving a somewhat longing gaze towards the hallway heading to the cortex. “I miss teasing him.”

That had Sebastian’s eyes widened, even the blind one.

“What happened?” he tentatively asked, not knowing if he was the one crossing the line now.

“Accident at work,” Earth-2 Lisa explained, her voice sad. “He was the head chef of our restaurant—although I didn’t actually do anything aside from providing the funds—but yeah, it’s _our_ restaurant,” she tried to hide a choked sob with a smile. “The night when the particle accelerator exploded, he was in the basement of our restaurant, doing routine check-up of the thermostat and the gas pipes when the room suddenly exploded.”

Sebastian paled. Oh, god. No wonder Earth-2 Lisa always had this longing grieving look every time Sebastian caught her staring at Len.

Her own brother had passed away.

Sebastian remembered the pain he felt when he first saw Jay’s face right after his father’s death. It was painful, to see someone so similar and dear to his heart but yet was a completely different person. Feeling the needs to comfort, he shimmied his shirt down quickly and flashed in front of her, pulling the mayor into his arms. She stiffened at first but soon seemed to be unable to held her strong front anymore and broke down, shaky arms wrapped around him tightly, her face buried to the crook of his clavicle as she sobbed softly.

“I miss him. I miss him so much,” she whimpered as he ran his hand through her hair. “It has been two years…I haven’t heard his voice…Haven’t seen his smile…I…couldn’t tease and prank him anymore… I miss him so much.”

“That’s the real reason of your visit here?” Caitlin’s voice rung quietly in the dark lab. “You wish for my help.”

“Y-yes…,” Earth-2 Lisa finally let go of Sebastian. 

Caitlin nodded solemnly. “And these samples you asked me to test…,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of her appliances, to the lines of test tubes and petri dishes she had been working on ever since they arrived here. “Is it your brother’s? It’s a meta, from what the early results could tell.”

Earth-2 Lisa nodded. “Dr. Wells told me that you’re experienced with metas. That you’re the one that help the Flash while he was in coma…,” she sniffled, squeezing Sebastian’s arm gratefully. “I thought you could help my brother too…He has been sleeping for two years despite his supposed remarkable recovery, so Dr. Wells suggested that it might have been meta-related.”

For a speedster, Sebastian took way too long to register their words.

“He was in coma?!” He half-shrieked, almost embarrassed at his wrong conclusion.

Thank god he hadn’t actually mentioned that he thought Earth-2 Len was dead. Mayor Lisa might not have the gold gun, but he didn’t doubt her abilities to murder him on sight if he so much said the wrong thing that offended her.

“Yes,” Earth-2 Lisa sighed, smiling sadly. “I…I don’t know what else I should do…He kept going into cardiac arrests and running a high fever all the time. It was worrying and the doctors didn’t know what to do…,” she grimaced, blinking furiously as if she was trying hard to not cry. “The doctors said it’s time to pull the plug on him.”

“Sounds pretty similar to what happen to Barry,” Caitlin pondered, jerking her chin in Sebastian’s direction. “He went into continuous cardiac arrests and running high temperature too…,” she frowned a bit, biting on her lower lips before shifting her gaze to the mayor, a gentle smile graced her face. “I would be happy to help, but do you think it’s possible to transfer him here so that I could work on treating him? Or do you wish for me to travel to your Earth instead?”

There was a brief moment of silence as Earth-2 Lisa seemed to ponder on something before she shakily spoke;

“There is something else too…”

Sebastian suddenly had a bad feeling. 

He saw the fear in the mayor’s eyes, the shivers she tried to hide underneath her authoritative front and the hint of scar peeking at the edge of her sleek suit.

He remembered the same fear when Lisa came for his help back then when she thought that Lewis had kidnapped Len.

“Is it your father?” he asked before she could resume, knowing that he was right when her breath hitched and she shifted fearful eyes at him.

“He broke out prison a few months back,” Earth-2 Lisa said, as if it physically pained her to admit that fact. “Since Zoom was the top priority back then, I was lacking people to keep track of him. Now, we don’t know where he is and what he is up to but I don’t like leaving Lenny vulnerable in the hospital. We did have security details to keep an eye on Lenny, but it’s only a matter of time before Lewis started hunting him down. Lenny was the reason he was in prison after all…”

Caitlin and Sebastian exchanged a cautious look.

“I can run over to Earth-2 and bring him right here without anyone noticing,” Sebastian offered, before adding, as an afterthought. “We could place him here where Caitlin work, or I could discuss with Barry if we could set up Eobard’s basement as a secret hospital room,” he smiled grimly, knowing that Barry would agree in an instant. The house has impossibly high-tech security and with Gideon there, it’s even harder to break into Eobard’s house without a notification popping into Barry’s and Sebastian’s phones. “Worst case scenario, if your father somehow found a way to this Earth, he would be targeting STARlabs first, knowing that we’re in charge of the metas. He wouldn’t think of checking on Barry’s private properties first…”

“What about this Earth’s Lewis?” Earth-2 Lisa asked, worries still vibrant in her eyes. “He would know that this Earth’s Len is dating Barry. He would know where to look,” she said, voice almost frantic and hysterics, only to yelp in shock at the sudden sharp laugh from the door.

They all turned towards Len who was leaning casually over the door.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Len drawled, keeping one hand rested over the gun strapped to his thigh as he straightened his posture, his other hand rested on his hips. “Lis,” he called, eyes softened and gentle as if he was looking at his real sister. “That’s what you preferred to be called, right? Lis.”

Earth-2 Lisa almost broke to tears.

“It has been two years since the last time I heard that nickname,” she tried to stop her sorrow from showing, but her voice did come out raw with her emotions, and Len didn’t help her any further when he suddenly strode forward, confident yet gentle as he pulled her into his arms.

“My Lisa told me she saw pain in your eyes every time you look at me,” he whispered, letting his guard down completely as she broke down again, this time outright wailing and sobbing, manicured fingers fisted on the thick fabric of Len’s parka as she wetted the front of his sweater. “She said that you looked exactly like her reflection when I was supposed to die in Oculus explosion…”

His words had Lis to choke a sob and buried her face tighter to his chest.

“You died…?” she mumbled, voice weak and terrified. “Lisa..had faced your death? How did she survive?!”

“Yes. I had died. Exploded to dust in a place where the time does not move,” Len hummed, rocking her gently, silently remembering that he did this, decades ago, when his Lisa was just a little girl begging him to not leave.

This Lisa was just like that. Far more innocent than his own Lisa. This was Mayor Lisa Snart and not Lisa the Golden Glider. She probably had never committed a crime, had never killed—heart still white and pure, hands still clean of blood.

This Lisa was just like his eight-years-old Lisa.

“Your Lenny is still alive, right?” he said, gently patting her head, squeezing her close until she had calmed down again. “Believe in him. I can come back from death for my Lisa. He would definitely wake up for you,” he said, moving back a bit to plant a gentle kiss over her forehead. “He will, Lis. Your Lenny will wake up for you. He has easier job than me since he doesn’t have to cheat death or time to return to you.”

Lis giggled at his words, wiping her tears away as he gave her one last hug before completely letting her go.

Len let her hold his hands though.

“What about your Lewis?” she asked, voice small and scared like that of a child.

Caitlin snorted a laugh. “I don’t think we have to worry about any Lewis Snart in this Earth.”

“Is he not an abusive bastard here?” Lis asked, taken aback slightly as she eyed Len’s Captain Cold getup.

Len openly scoffed while Sebastian snorted. 

“He still is. Probably worse than yours but we’re totally not comparing them,” Sebastian grinned, eyeing Len with knowing look. “But really. He isn’t going to be a problem to us here, as long as there is no zombie epidemic in the future.”

Lis blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I killed him,” Len stated flatly, as if he was stating that the grass is green and the sky is blue. “And before you hate me for it, do remember that he implanted a bomb in your doppelganger’s neck and coerced me to work for him. Killing him was an instant reflex I would forever cherish and be grateful for.”

Len was half-expecting for her to turn him down, since obviously the mayor would not favour murder, right?

To his pleasant surprise, she launched herself at him and hugged him tighter, her voice was muffled by his chest as she cheered;

“I’m so glad you and Lisa are free from that monster, Lenny.”

The smile on Len’s face couldn’t be anymore wider.

 

=====================================================================================

 

Jay Garrick was amused.

Really, over fifty years of life and never he had this kind of amusement to entertain him.

Barry Allen was an interesting kid.

He watched silently as the kid tried to explain the strange biology of this new universe to Harrison Wells. The genius scientist seemed to be torn between yelling at the kid for making such a huge change of the universe while in the same time seemed to be intrigued to learn more about this new strange biology.

To be honest, Jay was intrigued too.

Who knows if there was even another Earth out there where a man like Snart could be impregnated and bear a baby and it would be considered as a totally normal thing for the community.

How many Earth out there in the multiverse would bless the male population with the ability to bear child?

This was the first time Jay had heard of it, and he had lived decades as a speedster.

Jay fixed his gaze on Barry, taking in the familiar features that was combined in the kid’s facial features, smiling fondly as his old memories reached back to him. It has been decades since he lost the love of his life. When Harry told him that he was a doppelganger to Barry’s father, he felt like everything had fallen into place and he was finally able to get his closure.

All these years wondering what would have become if Joan didn’t die in that fight. What would have become if they both survived and was able to proceed with their plan of getting married and change their identity so that they could start a family as new people. What would have happened if they were able to start a family, and how their child would’ve looked like.

It was almost painful, yet still bittersweet when he saw the ghost of Joan in Barry’s features.

He wondered how broken the kid would be if he told him that his late fiancée was a doppelganger of Nora Allen.

Yeah, Jay probably should keep that as a secret from Barry.

He didn’t know if Henry Allen of this Earth was a speedster too—probably not—but catching a glimpse of the family picture Barry kept had gave him a look of what would have become—although may be a bit differently—if he was to build a family with Joan.

If they had a son, their son would probably look like Barry.

Jay smiled, he was getting melancholic, he knew it, but he couldn’t help it. His heart yearned to keep Barry—both of them, Barry and Sebastian—safe. He couldn’t resist to keep his eyes on the kid, making sure that the kid didn’t make any mistakes that he would regret forever. He wondered if this sudden paternal protectiveness he had over the kid was the last dying wish of the late Henry Allen, to have Jay—the doppelganger that have the chance to live—to watch over Barry—the child Jay never had the chance to have—as a compensation for his sudden cruel death. Perhaps this was the intricate strings of destiny, for them to stand beside each other to cope for their mutual loss.

Jay huffed. He was getting too melancholic.

“So you’re saying…,” Harry started, looking like he was about to pop a vein now. “That Mr. Snart, the doppelganger of our mayor’s brother, could very well be pregnant with your child…?”

“Um, yes?”

“ _Barry_.”

“What?! I didn’t know this would happen!”

“You went back in time to change the history!”

“I didn’t succeed, okay? Sure, maybe I managed to punch Thawne once before Jay dragged me away, but the punch couldn’t change the whole universe, right???”

“I warned you.”

“And I didn’t listen. Honestly, why are you so mad? Your Earth is not affected!”

“Not yet! We don’t know what could’ve happen!”

“At least there isn’t any evil speedster trying to kill me now. And I now had a brother, Bas, who is a speedster too, which means double protection for Central City—honestly, so far everything is good!”

This argument was far too amusing to watch.

And apparently, Jay wasn’t the only one enjoying this scene. Golden Glider had returned to the cortex, sans Cisco, though she looked exactly like a cat that got the cream as she pulled a chair to sit beside him, handing him a packet of warm biscuits as she sat down.

“I tried to find popcorn but this is the only snack available in this god awful lab…,” she said, slumping beside him and slowly munched on the biscuit.

Jay eyed her cautiously before grabbing one of the offered biscuit purely out of politeness.

He knew that she was about to say something.

It went on for a complete five minutes watching Barry and Dr.Wells went back and forth between the biology of this universe and the argument regarding time-travel before Jay finally opened his mouth to talk to the young woman beside him.

“You wish to tell me something,” he stated rather than asking, knowing there was no point in beating around the bush.

“Lenny would never hurt Barry,” she remarked, straight to the point. “So I wish for you to reconsider before you try to talk Barry out of his attempts to start a real relationship with Lenny.”

That had Jay paused his chewing for a moment, staring at her thoughtfully. He then slowly swallowed and asked;

“What makes you think I have any rights or say in Barry’s life?”

“You look like doc Allen,” she answered flatly. “I think it’s obvious that both version of Barry Allen saw you as both mentor and a substitute of their late father. They’ll listen to you like how they’d listen to doc Allen.”

That was a bit too painful yet sweet and heartwarming to Jay’s heart.

“And what makes you think that I would be against their budding relationship?”

“Lenny’s a criminal. And you’re a hero.”

“If I recall it right, Mr.Snart had done too much for the multiverse, even going far to die for us,” he smirked at the woman when she turned her head to stare wide-eyed at him. “His past crimes have been compensated in my book. Plus, Barry trusted him, so I do not have any complains.”

Golden Glider stared at him with those bug-eyed blue eyes for what it felt like eternity before she snorted a laugh.

“Even though you’re a doppelganger, you’re still the same,” she snickered, seemingly pleased at his reply. “Allens… the crazy lot of you golden-hearted heroes…”

Jay couldn’t help but laugh.

 

=====================================================================================

 

Cisco didn’t know if he hated or loved Lisa.

Okay, fine. He loved her dearly, even after she left him with very sore ass after a wonderful sex in the random room they able to find in this huge lab.

He also loved her even though he knew that she would murder him once she realized that he was out of the cocoon of nest she had whipped out for him as he limped his way to Gideon’s room. He needed to find something to keep him entertained, so perhaps the AI have some good movies from the future to ease up his boredom while his mind refused to sleep.

He wasn’t expecting to make a disturbing discovery though.

When Cisco had switched Gideon on, the first thing he asked her was, “Give me the most disturbing thing that Thawne kept in your database.”

He wasn’t expecting for her to smile somewhat mischievously before shutting down, only to open up the walls heading to her core database. Cisco remembered this, back then when they first found this room, she had shown her core database and he had refused to enter it for fear of being caught by evil Dr.Wells.

Though, right now he was in no rush of being caught.

Hence, he slowly climbed into the little space housing her main core, only to stop dead in his track once she saw the box stashed behind her core. Curious, he crawled towards the box, and slowly dragged it out to the main room.

Cisco was honestly expecting some weird shit, since this must be Thawne’s dirty little secret.

He wasn’t expecting to be crept up beyond sanity when he opened the box, only to find the half-naked form of a young little girl being stuffed inside the box. He pressed a hand to his mouth to stop his screams, although his own stomach twisted in nausea and disgust. 

For a moment, Cisco thought that it was a preserved dead body.

But then, he dared himself to touch the cheek of the child, only to notice that it was some form of silicone that was built to mimic human’s skin. It was subtle, but Cisco had worked with enough materials to know what high-grade silicone would feel like. 

Then his nausea hit him again as his mind suggested the worst and most disturbing thought.

Why would Thawne have a half-naked doll of young child stuffed in his lair? This doll looked nowhere older than seven or eight, with deep mahogany curls that bounced just above her shoulders. Her skin was a healthy tan, her eyes were closed, and she was curled up in a ball in the tiny cramped box, only wearing a white panty.

Cisco swore.

He just found Thawne’s sex doll.

And it was disturbing as fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not a sex doll. I won't go that far to encourage pedophilia.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I made it glaringly obvious who the child was
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and do leave your thoughts! Like usual, comments and feedbacks are like Len and his puns. It made my day and encourage me to write more.


End file.
